Unite Heaven and Earth
by Dismal00
Summary: Two decades after the war, Konoha is destroyed. A determined Himawari goes back in time to save it. How? Make sure that Boruto will never exist. Includes series of one-shots based in-universe.
1. Unite Heaven and Earth

Twenty years after the Fourth Shinobi War, Uzumaki Himawari was returning from a solo mission, her first one since she had just recently been promoted to Chunin. The rank was bestowed on her by her father Uzumaki Naruto, the Nanadaime Hokage. He had promoted her after a modest showing in the most recent Chunin Exams. She didn't win her match, but she displayed the resourcefulness of an experienced shinobi, and it helped that the Hokage happened to be her father. Her brother Boruto had grown more and more distant from her as of late. He had already moved out after attaining the rank of Jonin. She rarely saw him as all his time was devoted to missions and training.

As she tree hopped towards Konoha, Himawari saw several plumes of smoke rising in the distance. _That can't be good_ , she thought. She increased her pace and came upon the burning ruin that was now the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The sprawling cityscape was on fire, and the street was filled with bodies that appeared to be victims of lightning jutsu.

 _I need to find Father._

As she raced through the street, she came upon a monstrous chakra source that was familiar to her in more than one way. It felt like her brother and father combined into one being. Turning a corner, she found a bloody Boruto wearing a sliced up Jonin uniform.

"Nii-san! What has happened? Where are Father and Mother?" asked Himawari.

Boruto grinned crazily. "Oh, it's you, imouto. Haha," replied her brother in a mocking tone. "It's funny you should ask that. Dad is right here," He pointed to his stomach. "I don't know where Mom is. She probably killed herself since she's so weak without him. It's not like she could ever get him to take care of us when we needed him. She just waited for him like a servant."

"What are you on about Nii-san? What do you mean Father is inside you?" Himawari could feel a tightening in her chest. She knew she wasn't going to like the answer.

"I absorbed his power along with the Kyuubi. He never saw it coming. He still thought of me as his stupid son who would continue to endure everything. Endure his ass never being around when we were kids. Endure having to take the Chunin Exams three times to get promoted when your father is the Hokage. Endure never getting a Genin team because he thinks I'm not mature enough to be a good sensei. Endure Sarada leaving me because she thinks I'm not mature enough to be a good boyfriend. Endure, endure, endure. It's like everything about my life was a big joke at my expense and I have to endure the laughter. It's so humiliating and pathetic. I've had it with that shit! I'm taking what I want from now on."

"I can't believe you Nii-san! This can't be real..."

Himawari fell to her knees in despair, hands gripping the asphalt of the street. It was hot to the touch due to the nearby burning buildings. _I doubt I can even get away from him when he's like this... Am I going to die?_

She knew that she would be no match for Boruto even without him having stolen their father's power. She was a support ninja who mainly used genjutsu and her ability as a sensor.

"Too bad, imouto. It is real. Don't worry, though. I'm not going to kill you. You're one of the few who never patronized me after all. But I'd better not see you in this city again. Go somewhere and make a life for yourself," replied Boruto coldly. He then flashed away.

Himawari looked around frantically, trying to sense Boruto's location. Instead, she sensed someone else. It was Boruto's old sensei, Uchiha Sasuke. He didn't look injured, so she figured that her brother must not have been able to find him.

"Uchiha-san! Boruto is-" she called out.

"I know," interrupted Sasuke. "Let's get out of here."

He grabbed Himawari and took off away from Konoha, heading towards the Land of Water.

/

The two shinobi arrived in a forested glade. The ground was painted in a complicated seal array that was glowing. The raven-haired man stared at Himawari with an expression like he was in deep thought.

The bluenette asked, "Why take me here, Uchiha-san? He wasn't interested in killing me anyway. I didn't need to be saved! I just wanted to find the bodies of my father and mother assuming Boruto even left anything behind. I still can't believe they're gone... Everyone is gone..." Her eyes were moist.

"I can believe it. I stopped mentoring Boruto because I could tell he was turning out just like me. No, even worse than me. It's ironic that Rokudaime-sama focused on training me only for me to fall to the darkness and now I did the same with your brother who had the same destiny," stated the Uchiha.

"Why did no one notice he was dangerous? I know Father seems untouchable but he's just a man... I once incapacitated him at the age of five and I'm not even a very good ninja..."

"I never heard about that," replied Sasuke. He laughed bitterly. "I tried to talk to Naruto about him, but he never was willing to hurt even his enemy. How could I expect him to treat his own son as a serious threat? And no one thought I was dangerous, either... Having status in the village lets you get away with a lot of things."

The half-Hyuga kunoichi remained silent, looking away from the Uchiha with a sad expression. She wiped her tears away with her hand.

 _What on earth do I do now_ , she thought.

"Listen, Himawari-san right? Do you want to save your father?"

"What?"

"Do you want to save your father? Just your father. I doubt we can fix things for your brother or your mother. And you will probably forsake yourself in the process. I don't know exactly what will happen."

"Forsake myself...?"

"Just answer. I won't explain unless you agree."

"I loved my father very much, and any Leaf ninja would sacrifice themselves for the Hokage... My answer has to be yes."

"Very well. I have made preparations for a time travel jutsu. I was going to use it to save my clan from destruction, but I have determined that it doesn't go back far enough. In my calculations it can send the user 25 years in the past. And there's another problem."

"Another problem?"

"The jutsu uses up so much chakra that I would arrive either too exhausted to do anything or dead. So I can't use it on myself. But I can send you."

"I don't know how I would stop Boruto from turning out the way he did..."

"There's no way to be sure you can. I leave it up to you but I would not recommend it. I would do something that is sure to work: eliminate Boruto."

"You want me to kill my own brother when he's still innocent and helpless? I don't think I can... I haven't even killed anyone before."

"You don't have to kill him. Preventing him from ever being born would work just as well. Listen to me. When Boruto began his attack I went to activate the jutsu. I was lucky to find you. I was going to try it myself and just hope that I arrived alive and managed to recover from the exhaustion. But we're running out of time. Soon the seals will start to erode and I don't know what the result of that will be. It could create an explosion large enough to destroy this forest or something even worse than that. We need to use it and send you back right now."

The Uchiha started flashing through hand signs. He continued to speak.

"The jutsu requires 403 hand signs... I hope you come up with a plan before I finish."

"I have no idea what to do! How would I stop my mother from giving birth to Boruto? She would never fall out of love with my father. There is nothing more impossible on this planet!" replied a frustrated Himawari. She then thought to ask something. "What will happen to me if I manage to change the future?"

"If you manipulate events so that Uzumaki Himawari will never be born, I'm pretty sure that you will immediately cease to exist. But that doesn't matter, because you will almost certainly cease to exist in any case. Interacting with your parents in any significant way is likely to affect the time of your conception at least slightly, meaning that the specific Himawari that you are will never come to be. You need to complete the mission before that happens," answered the Uchiha.

"Complete the mission?! This is absurd. You're saying that as soon as I do anything to alter the events that led to my birth _at all_ , I'm going to disappear? How will I even know if it worked?"

"It's likely that your soul will still pass on to the next world, since you will have existed in the new timeline as well. After I send you back, I'll probably spend another year recreating the jutsu and send myself to that time as well. I just want to see my brother again, even if I can't interact with him. There's nothing left for me here," said a somber Sasuke. "I guess we will meet in the Pure Land if everything works out."

"Tell me, what would you do?"

"Well, I always thought my biggest mistake was when I abandoned the village because it hurt my teammates. However, I came to realize that they were hurt after my return, as well... I would try to make things better for them. Hadn't you noticed that your father was rarely very happy?"

Himawari thought back to her childhood.

 _Naruto and Hinata were talking while Himawari read a book in the living room._

 _"Did you reply to Sasuke-san's letter yet?" Hinata asked._

 _"No, I'm going to do that today. He said he's not coming back to Konoha for a while. He's such a loner," Naruto laughed._

 _"Want to take a bento with you?" Hinata smiled at Naruto._

 _"Nah, I have cup ramen at the office. Thanks, though, Hinata..."_

 _"Just let me know if you need anything. I love you, Naruto."_

 _With that, Hinata walked away._

 _Naruto stood in the same spot for a while as if contemplating something. He had a wistful expression on his face. Himawari looked over at him._

 _"What's wrong, Father?" she asked._

 _Naruto looked at her holding the large book and smiled. "Nothing, Hima-chan. I have to go to work. You just stay where you are and keep being cute." Naruto then flashed away._

"Well... I sometimes got the impression that he had lost something that was important to him. But I never managed to figure out what that was or how to help him, and he never wanted to talk about it. Are you saying you found out what it was? What was it? Tell me!" Himawari demanded.

"We're out of time, Himawari." Sasuke finished the sequence with a dragon seal and poked her in the stomach with his two pinky fingers. "Figure out how to unite heaven and earth. That will definitely get rid of Boruto. Good luck."

Himawari was left with the image of a smirking Sasuke as the world faded to black.

/

She reappeared in the same glade with the sealing array missing. The forest seemed more dense than it had been, although it was the same time of day.

 _Unite heaven and earth...? What could he possibly mean by that?_

She started to make her way towards Konoha. When she arrived, she noticed that the Hokage mountain only had four faces on it. _Well, it definitely worked. I'd better figure out what's going on in this time,_ she thought. She applied a basic Henge since a female Hyuga with whisker marks would quickly draw suspicion. She appeared as a normal civilian.

 _I guess I should go to the Shinobi Academy, that's probably where Father and Mother are if Uchiha-san was right about the time._

When she arrived at the Academy, she was met with the young versions of her father and Sasuke. Her father suddenly ambushed the raven and tied him up. He ran off and applied his own Henge to look like the Uchiha.

 _Very s_ _trange behavior,_ the bluenette thought. _My father used to be like this?_

She followed him to an area containing a bench where a young girl with pink hair was sitting. _Is that Sakura-san...? Uchiha-san's wife?_ Naruto approached under the guise of Sasuke. Sakura looked excited at the sight of him.

"You have a wide and charming forehead, it makes me want to kiss it."

 _So Father liked Sakura-san at this age._

Sakura cycled through a wide variety of emotions as the two continued their conversation. They nearly kissed until Naruto suddenly ran away clutching his stomach. Then the young Sasuke seemed to return.

"Byakugan," Himawari intoned. She examined the outer layer, not finding that a Henge was active. _That's the real Uchiha-san..._

The true Sasuke and Sakura exchanged words that quickly left the pinkette in a depressive state.

 _She had been so excited to talk to him... What a bizarre sequence of events_...

The world began to fade to black again. _What's going on...?_

/

Himawari woke up in the same spot. _What happened just now...?_ Small details in the environment were different as though a decent amount of time had passed. She decided to look around Konoha. She wandered around for some time. Villagers were discussing the disappearance of Uchiha Sasuke. She eventually heard a commotion at the village gates and went to investigate, finding a gathering of familiar Genin shinobi. Naruto and the future wife of Uchiha were both present, along with a young version of Nara-san, her father's advisor, and Inuzuka-san, her mother's former teammate. Sakura was in tears.

"I know how much pain you're in because of Sasuke. I can understand..." said Naruto to Sakura with a strange smile on his face.

"Thank you... Naruto..." replied the crying pinkette.

"Don't worry! I'll bring him back! It's my promise of a lifetime!" said Naruto, outstretching a thumb.

 _That's the pose Lee-san often uses... I've never seen Father do it before,_ mused Himawari.

"Hey Naruto! You sure you can keep that promise?" asked the upbeat Inuzuka.

"Heh. I won't take back my words. That's my ninja way!" Naruto said. The shinobi apart from Sakura departed as a group.

 _He did end up keeping the promise... But he's..._

The world around her started to fade away once again.

 _Ugh,_ the bluenette thought. _I guess this is an issue with the jutsu since I'm not supposed to be here. I can only appear for a short period of time._

/

She woke up in the same spot again. She felt a cold breeze against her face. _F_ _eels like winter..._ There were now five faces of the Hokage present on the mountain. It was nearly dusk.

 _Could it be that even more time passed this time?_ _I should try to locate my mother, perhaps her devotion isn't as strong as I believe it to be..._

Himawari went to the Hyuga estate. There she found a young version of her mother as well as Inuzuka-san standing outside the gate, along with a healthy looking Akamaru. The dog ninja was grinning hopefully at her mother.

"Ne, Hinata, how about we go on a date?" he asked.

"I don't know about that, Kiba-kun... I'm waiting for Naruto-kun to return." Hinata replied.

"But he's been gone for a year and a half!" _I'm losing more and more time_ _. I need to figure something out quickly._ "He's going to be gone for at least another year! It's just a date, Hinata. I'm not asking for your hand in marriage. I promise it'll be fun."

"I don't think so Kiba-kun. I'm sorry, but I only see you as a friend..."

"It's not like Naruto will ever ask you on a date anyway! He's never going to look at you the way he looks at Sakura! Damn it! He barely even knows you exist, Hinata!"

"I can't change the one I love, Kiba-kun. I really am sorry," Hinata answered. She genuinely did look sorry. Himawari began to feel tired.

 _Mother was always a kind person, but this sounds hopeless. I'm too late to change her mind... Father, though... it's not too late for him. I need to wait for the right moment,_ she thought as she let herself go to sleep.

/

 _It's getting very hard to predict how long I will be present after each time skip,_ Himawari thought as she opened her eyes.

She noticed she was standing in a large crater. It covered most of the village grounds. She sensed an inordinate amount of powerful chakra in the air, some of which felt like it had belonged to Naruto. People had accumulated in tight groups to treat the wounded or make shelter. The crater was mostly empty aside from those.

 _Whoa, what's going on here? The village was destroyed...? Is this the attack of the Akatsuki leader Mother told me about once? This was when she first told him how she felt about him..._

Himawari looked around, but she wasn't able to find her father. She did manage to find her mother in an area where medics were healing people. Sakura was tending to her mother with a pained expression on her face. The shinobi gathered around Hinata were discussing the sacrifice she had made against the Akatsuki leader. It was said that it was done out of love for the boy that would become her father in the future.

 _Looks like I missed it... That was something that I wanted to see. I don't understand why Father waited so long to respond._

She noticed the face Sakura was making as she was healing Hinata. It looked like she wasn't comfortable with the subject.

 _She seems unhappy at the thought of my mother's declaration to him... Is it that she doesn't like her? No, that doesn't make any sense... She was a kind, shy girl..._

Himawari silently observed for some time. Most people were talking about how great Naruto was to have destroyed the six Pain bodies. Eventually, Naruto returned to the elated village. Everyone moved to greet him.

"Welcome home!"

"You're a hero, Naruto!"

"Thank you!"

"We believed in you!"

 _Everyone acknowledges him..._ Himawari thought and smiled. She heard her mother softly weeping in the crowd. Sakura arrived and walked up to Naruto.

"Sakura-chan..." Naruto said.

"You're always so rash, dummy!" Sakura replied as she suddenly punched him. She then hugged him close to her. "Thank you..."

Everyone was smiling at the sight of the pink-haired medic embracing their hero. Himawari looked off to the side at the young version of her mother.

 _Even she's smiling... I think I understand now why he waited so long to respond to my mother's confession._

Himawari continued to observe the joyous scene as she slowly lost consciousness, her sight going dark.

/

Himawari woke up in the newly reconstructed village.

 _How much time has passed now?,_ she wondered.

 _Anyway, this must have been what Uchiha-san was referring to. Perhaps the sense of loss I felt from my father was Sakura-san...? But I don't understand... She was starting to return his feelings. How did they end up with my mother and Uchiha-san...? Inuzuka-san was absolutely right. There's no way my father would have looked at my mother if Sakura-san was there... She meant the world to him. Did he never tell her that? That's just too sad..._

The village had a somber atmosphere and no strong chakra signatures were present in it. She didn't sense any residual signatures either, so no shinobi had been present for quite some time.

 _Everyone must be fighting in the Fourth War._

She headed off in a direction where she could sense thousands of strong chakra sources. They were quite far away from Konoha. _I hope I don't miss my chance..._

After traveling for some time, she found someone who she recognized as a young Kazekage Gaara. He was floating on his sand. She applied a genjutsu to make herself mostly invisible and followed him from a distance.

 _This is the best lead I have for now._

She noticed a passed out kunoichi on the ground a hundred feet away, but she didn't have time to investigate without losing track of Gaara.

Gaara came upon an unconscious Naruto and picked him up. He looked to be near death and Gaara was distraught. Himawari continued to follow Gaara as he controlled his sand to carry Naruto, operating as a makeshift platform.

 _I wonder what Uchiha-san was doing at this time? He was the only other person with chakra as massive as my father's. But I can't sense him, either... Did he get badly wounded, too?_

Gaara and the incapacitated Naruto located a group of medical ninjas, Sakura being among them. None of them seemed to have much chakra remaining. Himawari saw a panicked Sakura scramble to attend to Naruto on top of Gaara's sand.

 _What was supposed to happen after this...? I remember something about Yondaime-jii-sama saving him during the war._

"What did they do to Naruto?!" Sakura shouted her question at Gaara.

"Just come! Stop complaining! I'll explain later!" He snapped impatiently at Sakura.

The two raced off on the sand with Naruto in tow. Himawari continued to follow them, but it was quite difficult with how fast they were going. She applied chakra to her ears so she could hear what they were saying.

"Hold on! You mustn't lose! You're strong!" implored Sakura to the dying Naruto.

Sakura was trying to use the Mystical Palm Technique to save Naruto, but it wasn't at all effective.

"You'll... You'll definitely survive! Damn, my chakra is... Why...? Why isn't medical ninjutsu working?!" asked the worried Sakura.

"It's because they removed the Kyuubi from him," Gaara answered.

Himawari recalled a conversation she had with her father when she was just starting to go to the Academy.

 _"What's up Hima-chan? You look like you want to ask me something," said Naruto._

 _"You and Kurama-san are friends now, right?" asked Himawari._

 _"Of course we are! He always helps me. I'd be a goner by now if it wasn't for him!"_

 _"So why not let him out of the seal, Father? Since you know he won't hurt anyone... It must be rough for him, being stuck inside you and not being able to run around. He's a fox, right?" Himawari smiled thinking about the great fox traveling around the nations._

 _"Hima-chan..." Naruto was silent for a few moments. He looked at Himawari seriously. "A jinchuuriki who is separated from their bijuu... will die."_

 _Himawari began to cry. "Father! I'm sorry! I'm so stupid! Forget I said anything..."_

 _"Don't cry, Hima-chan... I'm not upset." He patted the small girl on the head. "Kurama is fine with waiting... We're partners."_

Himawari started to feel tense as she started to wonder about the future she was a part of.

 _How on earth did he survive...? Was he just that strong, like Sakura-san said?_

"There's a way to save him. We have to get to the Fourth Hokage," Gaara explained. "The Kyuubi told me. I know of no other way to save Naruto!"

"How long until we get there?"

"It's still a few kilometers."

 _Yondaime-jii-sama is that far away?! He's not breathing at all..._

The increasingly desperate Sakura sliced into Naruto's side with a chakra scalpel and started to reach inside his chest.

"As long as I'm here, I won't let you die so easily!" Sakura proclaimed as she started to force air into his lungs. Himawari observed with her Byakugan.

 _His heart... She's the one who..._

"I'm speeding up!" Gaara warned Sakura. They raced off towards the Fourth.

 _I can't keep up anymore..._ Himawari thought and collapsed on the ground, exhausted.

Himawari had known that her father was seriously injured in the war. But she never knew what the former Haruno-san had done. She would never have imagined it this way.

 _I never knew she was such an amazing medical ninja... She was determined to move every rule of life and death for him despite being almost out of chakra... And she succeeded. She literally held his heart in her hands... Was it ever really my destiny to exist?_

Suddenly she felt herself falling unconscious.

 _Damn it! When I wake up, it might be too late to do anything..._

/

Himawari woke up again to see no one around. Many cocoons with chakra signatures inside were scattered around the terrain.

 _Infinite Tsukuyomi...? Looks like the war is still on. Maybe it's not an amount of time but instead notable events in the timeline that could be changed...? Maybe Uchiha-san pre-programmed the jutsu? Who the hell knows? I can't take much more of this. The periods that I am unconscious for obviously do not replenish my strength or chakra as sleeping would._ _I'm exhausted and don't have very much chakra left,_ she thought.

She sensed five active chakra sources in the distance and headed towards them.

It was the newly reassembled Team 7 along with a horned old man. _That's... the Sage of Six Paths...?_ Sakura looked like she had been crying, while Sasuke was looking at her disdainfully. Fortunately, Himawari still had her genjutsu active from the previous time. _I'm like a bug in this situation... They would have to be looking for me. Luckily, everyone is supposed to be asleep so they have no reason to._

 _"_ But, Sasuke-kun! I still love you! If I still have a place in that heart of yours, don't go... If we're together again, I'm sure we can go back to those days..." Sakura pleaded to Sasuke.

 _Those words... So this was where it went wrong... Why did she have to say that?_ Himawari looked over at Naruto.

 _You weren't awake to see how she fought to save you... You're going to let Uchiha-san occupy her heart unopposed...? Father... you'll come to regret it._

 _"_ You're... such an annoyance," replied the Uchiha.

Sakura suddenly fell unconscious for seemingly no reason.

"What the hell! You didn't need to cast the genjutsu on Sakura-chan!" complained Naruto.

"Well, she'd just come after us. This saves time," replied Sasuke.

"Sakura really wanted to save you this whole time," said Kakashi.

"Was she having fun daydreaming about love? I don't see what she likes about me and I'm not interested in her at all," Sasuke replied. _It seems like Uchiha-san is against it too. Did my father give her up for a man who doesn't love her? If that's the case, that's terribly depressing..._

Team 7 continued to argue with each other. After some time, Naruto and Sasuke left in the direction of the Valley of the End. The unconscious Sakura remained along with Kakashi and the Sage.

 _So Sakura-san remains knocked out from that dumb genjutsu... Is she still dreaming of Uchiha-san...? Why? She's just not that close with him. What is it about Uchiha-san? He's handsome at this age, but she doesn't seem like a shallow person... What did he ever do for her? The incident when I first arrived in the past... Is she that sentimental? It was just a stupid lie... It should have been obvious that it wasn't actually Uchiha-san who had said that to her. But maybe she just really wanted it to be him? She's really stubborn... I can't think of anything else. That has to be the key... I first appeared at that time for a reason, or maybe it was just fate... I'll have to get close to her._ _Rokudaime-sama and the Sage will sense me easily... But t_ _here's not going to be a better opportunity. The war is almost over and if I fall asleep again, my parents could already be married when I wake up. If I don't disappear, I'll at least know that I failed, and I could simply explain who I am. Even that should suffice to make it so that Boruto will never be born... But_ _I want Father to be happy even if I'm never going to be a part of his life. Sorry, Mother... I hope you can fall in love with someone else. Maybe you'll still have a child named Himawari...? I hope so..._

Himawari decided to make her move. Running up to Sakura while invisible, she knelt next to her and touched her face, pushing Yin natured chakra into her.

Sakura was put into a genjutsu dream.

 _12-year-old Sakura was sitting on the bench once again. She gazed at the warm-eyed boy with raven hair that was approaching her._

 _This was when... Me and Sasuke-kun... Sakura thought._

 _"You have a wide and charming forehead..." Spoke the boy as his image began to distort. He slowly turned into Naruto. "It makes me want to kiss it... -ttebayo"_

 _Sakura had a look of shock on her face. "That_ is _something Naruto would say..." she mumbled to herself._

 _Naruto... That was you...? I had thought Sasuke-kun... God, I'm such a fool... I'm so sorry, Naruto... I'll fix everything. Just wait for me, Naruto!_

In the real world Kakashi at once stiffened in surprise. "Did you sense that, Rikudou-sama? Someone else is here," he asked.

"I did, but whoever it was is gone now. How strange..." remarked the Sage.

Kakashi examined Sakura's sleeping face. "What could she possibly be dreaming of to make her smile at a time like this...?"

Himawari started to feel light-headed. She couldn't control her chakra to maintain the genjutsu anymore. Then she could no longer feel her chakra at all.

She realized she couldn't feel the ground underneath her, nor could she hear the sounds of her father and Sasuke fighting in the distance.

 _It must have worked... Nii-san has no future anymore... and neither do I._

Her vision immediately went dark instead of fading away.

 _I hope you'll be smiling with Sakura-san, Father... I wanted to see you smile more... when we were all together as a family... I guess... I was never destined to see it... It... must have been... my cursed Hyuga blood..._

Himawari at last fell into oblivion.

/

Later, outside the Konoha gates, the redeemed Sasuke was saying goodbye to Sakura and Kakashi.

"I need to see it for myself... How the world looks," Sasuke said.

"But are you going to be alright, Sasuke-kun? You went crazy the last time you were off by yourself... Maybe me and Naruto should go with you?" asked Sakura.

"Hn. No, I'll be fine... Just look after the Dobe for me. See you later, Sakura."

"Goodbye, Sasuke-kun..."

Sasuke walked off away from Konoha. Out of sight of the Konoha gates, he ran into Naruto. He returned Sasuke's old Leaf forehead protector to him.

"Here, I'm returning this." Naruto said.

"I'll save it for when we really settle things between us... By the way, now would be a good time to tell Sakura how you feel," replied Sasuke with a smirk.

"What? You know she only loves you, Teme..."

"Hn... You can believe that if you want. It makes no difference to me, Dobe..."

"Teme!"

But Naruto felt hopeful for some reason...

/

Several years had passed and Naruto was becoming Hokage today. Sakura was helping him prepare for the ceremony.

"Hey, Sakura-chan. Remember how I wanted to kiss your forehead as Sasuke?" Naruto said.

Sakura laughed.

"Yeah, that really had me fooled... It was so sweet of you to try to make me feel better about myself, though. I was so insecure at that age..."

"But what made you realize it was me after all that time had already passed? I know I never told you... Did Teme tell you?"

"No, actually... I don't know what it was. I guess subconsciously I realized it had to be you because you became my best friend while Sasuke-kun just thought I was annoying? Haha."

"Well, I'm glad you did... I didn't know how to tell you I loved you when it seemed like you were so stuck on the Teme..."

"I think I always loved you, Naruto. It would have come out eventually."

"I love you too, Sakura-chan."

/

Many more years passed. Himawari was sleeping in Limbo, unable to pass on to the Pure Land because she had no connections with anyone that had passed on who could accompany her. A yellow-haired figure materialized. It was Uzumaki Naruto, appearing as he did at the age of 17 again. He grinned.

"So this is the afterlife? It's pretty empty. I wish Sakura-chan was here with me... I miss her already."

/

In the Pure Land, Naruto's parents were talking with Kakashi, who had passed on eighteen years ago.

"Why isn't Naruto here yet? Didn't you go look for him after he died, Kakashi-kun?" asked Kushina.

"Well, the thing about that is..." replied Kakashi.

 _Naruto and Kakashi have met up at the entrance of Limbo._

 _"Naruto, you need to come with me to pass on to the Pure Land now. Your parents and everyone else are there..." Kakashi said._

 _"Is Sakura-chan there?" Naruto asked._

 _"No, of course not... she's not dead yet."_

 _"I'm waiting for Sakura-chan. Come back and get us when she shows up."_

 _"We can just get her separately..."_

 _"I don't want her to be alone when she gets here. I'm going to wait for Sakura-chan."_

 _Kakashi sighed. "Okay, Naruto... See you later."_

"So that's how it is... Kushina and I didn't have to worry about that," Minato said, taking Kushina's hand in his, both of them smiling at the thought of finally getting to see Naruto again.

/

Himawari felt something tugging at her spirit and woke up. She saw her father waiting at the entrance to Limbo with a calm smile on his face.

 _Father! I haven't seen him in so long... Did he have a happy life with Sakura-san? Did they have a daughter together? Was she anything like me...? s_ he wondered as she ran up to him.

Naruto looked at her with interest. She started to speak.

"Hi, I'm-"

Both Naruto and Himawari were surprised when Uchiha Sasuke suddenly appeared and took her by the arm.

"Teme, you're dead? The doctors said you were still really healthy for your age... What happened?" Naruto asked.

"Hn. Don't worry about me yet, Dobe," said Sasuke before flashing away with Himawari. Naruto looked perplexed but didn't try to follow.

"You're... the Uchiha-san of my original timeline?" Himawari asked.

"Yes. I see you completed the mission. You did well," Sasuke said with a real smile on his face. His expression turned serious again. "Himawari. I have to ask that you keep what happened a secret. I want him to be completely content with his life. I owe it to him after everything."

"You're right... he deserves to be happy. Then... can you take me to the Pure Land? I want to try and find Neji-oji-san... I always wanted to meet him..."

"Of course... and thank you, Himawari."

/

A year later, Sakura finally arrived. She appeared in her 17 year old form.

"Hey Sakura-chan, you're finally here!" said Naruto before kissing her on the forehead.

"You were waiting for me, Naruto? That's just like you," replied a beaming Sakura.

"I'd never leave without you, Sakura-chan."

"I hope you don't want to wait for Shina and Hanami too... We would be here a long time in that case and it's pretty boring here."

"Hey, did Sasuke-teme die? I saw him here for a second and then he disappeared."

"That's weird... Sasuke-kun was definitely still alive, Naruto. There's no way he could have been here..."

"Yeah... Oh well. We can ask him when we see him again. Let's go, Sakura-chan!"


	2. Omake 1 - Sasuke takes care of it

_This and the following chapters contain side stories set in the universe of Unite Heaven and Earth. Not in any chronological order. Many of them are just alternate timelines or possible interesting occurrences. Don't take them too seriously._

 _ **Sasuke handles the problem himself.**_

/

Naruto and Jiraiya find a sleeping adult Sasuke in Water Country while traveling. Naruto runs up to him and starts shaking him.

"Teme! TEME! Wake up!" yells Naruto.

"Dobe... Be quiet. Give me a soldier pill." Sasuke grumbles. Naruto reaches into his bag and gives him one.

"Why the hell do you look so old-ttebayo? What did Orochimaru do to you!?"

"Don't worry about that. Listen. You need to tell Sakura how you feel so the two of you can get married. Don't make me marry her; I do not have the time for her, understand?"

"Uh, ok? I want to, but you know she's in love with y-"

"I don't want to hear it!" interrupts Sasuke. "That attitude is what put me in this situation to begin with, you idiot. Fine! Don't marry her. But whatever you do, don't have any children with that stuttering Hyuga stalker. It will be disastrous and fatal for you. I repeat: Fatal."

"Why? I don't understand how that could kill me..."

"There's no time to explain. Any second now, I'm going to disapp-"

Sasuke starts to shimmer and vanishes.

"Well, that was interesting." quips Jiraiya.

"Sure was..." Naruto mumbles.

"Do you think he came from the future? Doesn't that mean you're going to become a failure in love like me?"

"I hope not..."


	3. Omake 2 - Sasuke is confused

_**Sasuke begins to think that someone may have made a terrible mistake.**_

/

Sasuke has returned to the Leaf to attend Sarada's 13th birthday party. The guests have all left, and Sasuke is saying goodbye to Sarada and Sakura.

"Well, I'm off," Sasuke says.

Sakura looks at Sasuke meaningfully with her head tilted slightly downwards. Sasuke stares back awkwardly for a few seconds before starting to walk away.

"Where are you going?!" Sakura asks, irritated. Sasuke stops and turns around to face Sakura again.

"I'm leaving to go back to my mission... I just said that."

"No, I mean, why do you always leave me hanging?!"

"What are you talking about?"

"My forehead. My big, stupid forehead that you obviously don't even like."

"What? I don't dislike it. You want me to poke it? I've done that several times... I would do it more, but you see, it's a gesture that Itachi used to-"

Sakura's right eye begins to twitch.

"ARGH! No! The poke would only make things worse at this point. I've been waiting for 21 years now. Do I really have to spell it out for you? You said you wanted to! Forget it. I'm going to go clean the house. I've had it with you, Uchiha Sasuke," Sakura turns and stomps away in the direction of their home. "Let's go, Sarada!"

"Bye, papa," Sarada says. She departs, following Sakura. Sasuke just stands there, puzzled.

 _21 years? We haven't even been married that long. What does that woman expect from me?_ the confused Uchiha wonders as he heads off to continue his mission. _Maybe I should ask Naruto?_


	4. Omake 3 - Himawari and Neji

**_An awkward situation in the Pure Land, featuring Hyuga Neji._**

/

Himawari had found Neji in the Pure Land and the two were getting to know one another. They were discussing the legacy of the Hyuga and Neji's contribution to it.

Suddenly, Naruto appeared along with Sakura.

"Hey, Neji! We've been looking all over for you! It's been so long. I just wanted to say I'm sorry if you were expecting me to be with Hinata. I just loved Sakura-chan too much, and I still do, you know?" Naruto said as he wraps an arm around Sakura.

Sakura blushed. "Aw, Naruto..."

"It's good to see you again, Naruto. And it's absolutely fine. I sacrificed myself for Hinata-sama, not for you. I always wanted to repay her kindness and I did. I have no regrets. I only hope that she lived happily," Neji replied stoically.

"Oh, she did. I think so, anyway..." Naruto said before glancing at Himawari. "Hey, who's this? She looks kind of familiar."

Himawari gave Neji a meaningful look and responded, "I'm... Hyuga Himawari. I was a kunoichi during the reign of the Second Hokage."

"Himawari... wasn't that the name of one of Hanami's friends? She was a Hyuga... I wonder if she was named after you?" mused Sakura.

 _Mother... you did use my name. That makes me happy..._ Himawari smiled mostly to herself.

"It's... a common Hyuga name," Neji finally decided to say.

Wanting to get off the subject, Himawari mentioned, "I was just telling Neji-o... Neji-kun here how much I admired him for his life and heroics in the Fourth War."

"They were nothing compared to yours. All of Konoha owes you a great debt, especially the _Hokages_ ," Neji sayid while staring through Naruto's head. Himawari glared at Neji.

"Really? That's amazing!" Naruto said excitedly. "What was your life like, Hima-chan?" Naruto looked at Himawari with a warm smile.

Himawari's eyes widened. _Hima-chan..._ She felt like crying, but she was barely able to keep it together.

Sakura punched Naruto. "NARUTO! Just because we're in the afterlife now doesn't mean you can start flirting with other women! Look how freaked out you made her! Sorry, Hyuga-san. My husband is such an idiot."

"Ow! I would never think of it, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said while clutching his head.

"It's fine... My life was nothing exceptional, Nanadaime-sama. I just did what Neji-kun did... I died protecting the dream of someone who was important to me," Himawari explained with a solemn expression.

"That's wonderful, Hima-chan! When a person has something precious to protect, that's when they can become truly strong!" Naruto proclaimed. "Has anyone ever told you that before, Hima-chan?"

"Yes..." Himawari said very wistfully.

"That reminds me! Haku! We should go find Haku! I'm sure he's here, probably hanging out with that eyebrowless weirdo, Zabuza!" Naruto grabbed Sakura. "It was nice meeting you, Hima-chan! Bye, Neji!"

The two of them flashed away.

"You... Naruto... I'm sorry, Himawari-chan," Neji said.

"It's fine, Oji-san... Uchiha-san said it was for the best and I agree. I don't want him to have any doubts... Not when everyone is happy in the Pure Land, and he's certainly happy," replied Himawari.

"Hmph. Indeed he is... and it's almost unbearable," agreed the characteristically moody Neji.


	5. Omake 4 - But why, Sakura-chan?

**_Naruto and Sakura learn the truth. Naruto is upset, but Sakura..._**

/

Naruto and Sakura have finally learned what Himawari had done after someone had overheard her talking with Neji. Rumors spread throughout the Pure Land until eventually Himawari decided it would be less damaging to come clean.

An upset Naruto was talking about it with Sakura.

"I can't believe it... I had a son who ended up destroying Konoha? You were going to marry Sasuke? I married Hinata...? You... didn't love me, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know, Naruto... I can't tell you what the Sakura from the other timeline was thinking. You knew I had always been interested in Sasuke-kun..." Sakura replied apologetically.

"But... is that what you would have done if you never realized?"

"I'm not sure... I know I wasn't planning on marrying him at that time, but it took a long time for me to understand what I felt for you. I want to answer no... and it's scary for me... but I can't say, Naruto."

"But why, Sakura-chan?"

"I guess I had always wanted Sasuke-kun... This is embarrassing to talk about. Back then, me and his other admirers were infatuated with the idea of this 'kind Sasuke'. A Sasuke who would protect us and love us and we would be his one and only. When you said those words to me... you gave that Sasuke-kun a face and a voice. It was unforgettable... I thought he existed, and more than that, that he was interested in me. That he understood me. That he wanted me and my imperfections. It was exactly what I wanted to hear. They were the exact words I fantasized about him saying... There was a time I would have given anything to hear him say something like that again..."

Sakura paused for a moment and smiled sadly at Naruto.

"And I thought he secretly felt that way, and if I kept pushing, he'd show it to me again, tell me those words again. You were so damn charming wearing his face, Naruto. If you wanted me to look at you instead of Sasuke-kun, it was the worst thing you could possibly have done... Even though it was strange. Even if I should have thought about how odd the situation was and realized it was you... I mean Sasuke-kun compliments me, says the compliment is like something you would say, asks me about you, then tries to kiss me, gets a stomachache, and comes back practically ignoring me and then calls me annoying? There was obviously something wrong. But I was an immature little girl. I didn't know how to look underneath the underneath. I didn't analyze it, because I didn't really want to. I thought it was destiny. It was exactly what I wanted."

"I'm so sorry, Sakura-chan... I had never meant for that to happen. I had no idea that it was so significant for you," Naruto looked down with a guilty expression. "Misleading you is not what I wanted to do... I just didn't want to ruin what was probably one of your happiest moments with our lost friend..."

"I did care about you so much... more than I cared for Sasuke-kun... but if you had started shutting me out, because you gave up on me, like you said you almost did... If I stopped being the center of your world, like I loved being... and then he showed interest in me... maybe I would have married him, Naruto. He became someone that I respected and admired after the war, so I can't say that I wouldn't. If I thought it could bring back that kind Sasuke... That Sasuke was the one I said I loved at the end of the war. I wasn't really thinking about the one that wanted to kill the Kages. I was thinking of our teammate that fought alongside us. I was thinking of the young ninja who nearly died taking a volley of senbon from Haku for you... and I was thinking of a socially withdrawn pretty boy who decided to come out of his shell just for me, and looked at me with so much affection, saying the perfect words. Because it was you, you big idiot..."

Sakura grinned at Naruto.

"Haha..." Naruto rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand. "I just feel so bad, Sakura-chan. I hate knowing that I lived in a reality where I wasn't with you... I hate thinking that I would have given up on you. You were and still are my happiness, Sakura-chan. If I would have had to choose between being with you and being Hokage, I would have chosen you without even thinking about it... That's why I hate thinking about you choosing Sasuke..."

"But I would never have chosen to be with him if it would have hurt you, Naruto. I always refuse to hurt you, because I felt and still feel so guilty about how I treated you when we were young... If you loved me, then running off with Sasuke-kun would have hurt you. I would never do it... Not unless I was sure you would be okay... Like if you were with someone else. So in the other timeline, you must have acted like you didn't love me... or never loved me. That would have been so painful for me. I didn't realize it, but the way you treated me had become something I treasured more than anything. The way you looked at me as if I was your whole world... Sasuke-kun was just me being stubborn. I could never have traded what I had with you for him... But if I believed you loved Hinata, and that you only saw me as a friend on the level of Chouji or Kiba... who knows what I would have decided to do? That would have felt so terrible... Even if I didn't fully understand what I felt for you, I knew you were my most precious person, Naruto. Even if I may have wanted Sasuke-kun to love me... You've always been the one I can't stand to lose. I learned that during the war. Losing you is not acceptable to me. I could have moved on from losing Sasuke-kun, but losing you is like losing the sun. There's no reason to get out of bed anymore..."

Sakura took a deep breath and looked at Naruto seriously.

"So I feel like you must have really hurt that other Sakura... You didn't give her a chance to realize she loved you, Naruto. To realize that she needed your unconditional love to even be herself, to be the real Sakura. And she must have been so confused and hurt... So she goes to Sasuke-kun, hoping she can still love him... It's like a nightmare... I feel so awful thinking about it, Naruto..." Her eyes began to water. "Naruto...!"

The pinkette suddenly bolted towards Naruto and hugged him.

"Please tell me you weren't going to abandon me because I said something stupid, Naruto... I want to believe there were other circumstances that we don't understand... I want to believe that you would never have given up on me. I thought our bond was unbreakable. I didn't understand that you were everything to me back then, Naruto... I was still so weak... I still needed so much help. Please tell me you would have waited for me. Tell me I wouldn't have lost you..." Sakura began to sob. "I can't live with that... Please, I'm begging you, Naruto..." she said, nearly heartbroken.

"I never give up, Sakura-chan... That's my ninja way... But I didn't know what to do after you said those things about Sasuke. I really believed that I would be seeing you and Sasuke together and that it was going to hurt me for the rest of my life... I didn't know you cared about me and my feelings that much at the time. By the time I had started to think about what I should do, you had already brought up what I had said about your forehead back then... Also, Teme told me I should tell you how I feel... So I was going to do that. I really was, Sakura-chan..."

"Heh... Sasuke-kun... That was nice of him..." Sakura laughed nervously. "The possibility just scares me so much, Naruto... I'm terrified even though I'm already dead and there's nothing that can hurt me..."

"It's true that when you said you loved Sasuke, it destroyed me... But I want to think that I would have bounced back, and we would have talked about it... instead of whatever happened in the other timeline..."

"And I'm still sorry for that..."

"But, Sakura-chan... I'll spend the rest of my time here with you. I'll never leave you. That's a promise of a lifetime..."

"Isn't it more than a lifetime, now?"

"Yeah... Haha..."

Sakura finally released Naruto from her grasp.

"I feel really grateful towards Himawari-chan..." she said.

"Definitely... I'm going to spend a lot more time with her and try to think of her as family. I think you should, too... even though she's supposed to be Hinata's daughter... Hinata's still alive, I think."

"Of course I will."


	6. Omake 5 - Sakura's final mission

_**Sakura is notified of Naruto's death. A heartbroken Sakura encounters Boruto while looking for Sarada.**_

/

Sakura was alone in the Uchiha home as was typical for her. Sarada had left to go on a mission. She was taking a nap in the middle of the day when she was woken up by someone pounding on the front door.

"Sakura! Open up! Sakura! I'll break it down if I have to!"

Sakura dragged herself out of bed. "I'm coming, damn it... Keep your mask on."

She opened the door. It was Kakashi. He looked stressed. He didn't have his book.

"Sakura, we have a serious problem. Boruto went crazy and is attacking people all over Konoha," he said.

"Boruto...?" She remembered that Sarada had a falling out with him recently. "Oh shit! Sarada! Did Sarada return from her mission?! Please tell me she didn't come back yet..."

"I don't know, Sakura... I don't know anything else about what's going on in the Hokage office. I was just put back in charge..."

"God damn it... Where the hell is Sasuke-kun? He's one of the shinobi who could handle Boruto... Why did me and Naruto work so hard to bring him back if he's not here the one time we really need him...?" Sakura put her face in her hands out of frustration. She peered at Kakashi over her cupped hands. "Wait... you were put back in charge? Where's Naruto...?"

"Naruto... Naruto is dead, Sakura. Boruto stole his power somehow... he's gone."

"No..."

She felt her heart sink. Sakura had always thought about one day getting together with Naruto, probably after Naruto's daughter, who she can never remember the name of, moved out, and Boruto and Sarada maybe even got married. She fantasized that with the kids gone, he would possibly leave Hinata. She'd come to him then, tell him she loved him, and he'd give her that warm smile of his and say, "I love you too, Sakura-chan!" Then she would leave Sasuke and they would spend whatever was left of their lives together. They'd walk into the afterlife holding hands, like the real soulmates that she truly believed they were. It wouldn't be as wonderful as it could have been, but it was much, much better than nothing. That would never happen now.

 _Naruto... did you know that I love you...? That I've always loved you? I can't accept this... I wanted to be your Sakura-chan again..._ Sakura thought.

Kakashi regarded Sakura, who was staring into space with a haunted expression on her face. "Sakura. You have to get to the evacuation tunnels. You aren't an active shinobi anymore... Boruto is incredibly dangerous. Come with me, and-"

 _I have to find Sarada._

Sakura suddenly shoved Kakashi to the side and ran out. "I'm going to go look for Sarada!"

"Sakura! Come back! Sarada is-"

"SHUT UP, SENSEI!"

Sakura roof hopped to the center of town as fast as she could.

/

After reaching the town square, Sakura heard the crackle of lightning. She saw a blonde haired figure with spiky hair in the distance. She forced her heart to stop soaring with hope at the sight, because in her mind, she knew it was not going to be Naruto. She approached him. Boruto turned and looked at her. He grinned madly.

"Ah, if it's not Uchiha-san. One of the heroes of the Fourth Great War... Have you come to try and stop me? I doubt you can... It's not like you're actually an Uchiha. You're just the woman of an Uchiha."

 _God damn it... Why did he have to say that...? Naruto... I didn't really want to be an Uchiha... I'm so sorry that I made you think I did... I would do anything to take that back. Why didn't I just tell you not to marry Hinata...? Why was I so stubborn...? Why did I think you would be happier without me...? You were in love with me... How could I have been so stupid...?_

"Shut up, you little shit! Where's Sarada? Did you do all this just because she left you? I'm going to-"

The blonde started to laugh. "Hahaha! What can you do? It's not like someone like you was ever a match for Sasuke-sensei or even dear old Dad... and I'm more powerful than him now."

"Damn you... You're nothing like Naruto... What did you do to Sarada?!"

"'Nothing like Naruto'? Lady, I'm everything like Naruto. I'm an Uzumaki, and now I have the Kyuubi. Face it: I'm the Nanadaime, new and improved."

"You..."

"Who are you to talk anyway? As if you had this great appreciation for my father. He always loved to talk about you. He acted like you were a saint. The greatest human being to be birthed on this shitty planet. The almighty 'Sakura-chan'..." Boruto imitated his father's use of the honorific derisively. "But how many times have I seen you in my life aside from when I was trying to fuck Sarada? Maybe... twice? Including this time? You never came to our home. You never visited him in his office as far as I know. Even Tenten-san knew my father better than you did. You may have been his teammate, but all he was to you was the Hokage."

"You fucking bastard! You don't know anything about it... Naruto and I..." Sakura trailed off.

 _He's actually right... Oh, Naruto... Did you still love me...? Why was I such a coward? Why didn't I tell you that I loved you with all my heart...? Would you have left Hinata? I've been so miserable... I should have given you the choice... I should have told you I loved you... I should have kissed you... I should have asked to move in with you... Sarada and Sasuke wouldn't have cared... They're more than fed up with me. I think they might even know... They would have been glad to see me finally happy. I would have given anything to be Sakura-chan... Naruto... Why? Why am I so pathetic?_

"Just tell me what you did to Sarada!" the wife of the last Uchiha finally demanded.

Boruto suddenly stopped smiling and stared blankly at the older kunoichi, face devoid of emotion.

"Sharingan," Three tomoe appeared in each eye.

"NOOOO! You fucking monster... I'll-" Sakura made a motion to attack Boruto, but he suddenly appeared next to her with a Chidori blazing at the back of her neck.

The chirping was incredibly loud in her ears. It was starting to give her a headache.

"I wouldn't do that. You should just calm down, Uchiha-san." Boruto shouted over the sound of the birds. "You see, having the Kyuubi is quite handy. It seems that the demonic chakra that is the source of the accelerated healing is also capable of replicating the part of the optic nerve which is associated with the activation of doujutsu. Meaning I can turn this Sharingan of mine on and off like a real Uchiha. Just like Sasuke-sensei. You know I always wanted to be like him? He's so cool, isn't he? Of course, you knew that. You married the guy."

 _Damn it..._

Sakura tried to calm down, but she wasn't having much success. She was now incredibly angry with and desperately wanted to kill Boruto. He had taken Sarada's eyes, and somehow knew exactly what to say to remind her of every failure in her life, twisting the knife brutally. He didn't even seem aware that he was doing it. She was hopelessly outclassed and now at his mercy, and Naruto wasn't alive to swoop in and save her like he always did. She would have given anything for a time travel jutsu at that moment. To go back to when they were standing in the snow of the Land of Iron and just kiss him passionately every time he tried to deny her. Make him believe her and stay with her forever. Then she wouldn't have been in this situation. But she had been young and stupid and she was now older and out of options.

 _All this is my fault... If I hadn't been so stupid and stubborn... Naruto and I would have been so happy together... And this asshole would have never existed... All I had to do was say that I loved him, which was the truth... Why did I let him believe I still loved Sasuke? Just because he had started to see Hinata? And I was afraid he didn't love me anymore? What the hell is_ wrong _with me? I made myself miserable... Konoha is screwed... Naruto died believing I never loved him..._ _Just stick me with the stupid Chidori already. I've been begging for it my whole life. God, I'm such an idiot..._ _I miss you so much, Naruto..._

Boruto at last deactivated the Chidori and leapt away. Sakura's ears were ringing as she spun to face him.

The twisted Uzumaki retrieved a large scroll from his waist pouch. "Here, you can have this. I borrowed something from it, but it's mostly complete. It's quite the collector's item. Very rare and valuable."

He casually dropped it on the ground.

 _A storage scroll... It must be... No... Sarada... God damn it... I'm so sorry... Sarada... Naruto... Everything is so fucked up..._

"You really aren't even worth killing, so I'm off now. More important things to do. Goodbye, Uchiha-san," Boruto finished. He waved cheekily and flashed away. Sakura was reminded of something from a long time ago, back when Naruto and her were always together.

 _Next time, save the people dear to you, not some old hag._

 _Maybe... Yes, it's possible. Elite medical ninja, Haruno Sakura... the apprentice to the Godaime Hokage, Senju Tsunade-sama... still has a mission to complete._ Sakura thought. She grabbed the scroll and roof hopped back to the Uchiha residence.

/

Kakashi had left long ago. Sakura punched down the front door and started tearing the house apart. She pulled all the drawers out of the cabinets in the living room and bedroom. _Where are they...?! Damn it, Sasuke... Secretive bastard..._ She began to destroy the furniture and most of the walls with her super strength technique. Finally, after destroying the bed she had slept in, she noticed an envelope taped to one of the posts. She picked it up and opened it. It contained a miniature sealing scroll labeled with the Uchiha fan and a short inscription.

 _Straight Tomoe..._ _This is it. Thank God..._

She unsealed Sarada's eyeless body from the larger scroll and began to work.

An hour later, she had finished the operation. Sarada's eyes were closed.

She performed the hand signs for a jutsu with both palms on Sarada's stomach. Sarada's eyes began to flutter open. A pair of dark eyes that Sakura was very familiar with gazed back at her.

"Mama... is that you? What the hell happened...? Where's Boruto...? What's wrong with my eyes...? Everything looks blurrier than it usually is without my glasses..." Sarada coughed out.

"Boruto took your eyes... I implanted your father's old eyes from many years ago. He was starting to go blind and had them replaced. I hope you can get new glasses..." Sakura smiled weakly at Sarada. "God, I'm so sorry, Sarada... I'm such a shitty mother. I fucked up so many things. Even if I wasn't your real mother, you still deserved better..."

"No, mama... You're great... I love you so much..." Sarada said, smiling back at her mother.

Sakura coughed loudly into her hand. Her Yin seal released itself, slowly creating lines over her body.

"Mama?" Sarada squinted her eyes to try and see what was happening to Sakura.

"Stay away from Boruto... Get out of Konoha. Try to find your father. Tell him... Tell Sasuke what happened. Maybe he can... kill Boruto. I'm going... to sleep now... I... love you... too, Sara-" Sakura muttered, closing her eyes.

Her neck and limbs went limp where she was sitting. She slumped against the wall. Sarada noticed that the hand that her mother had coughed into was stained in something red.

"Mama? Are you alright? Mama!"

She crawled towards Sakura and tried shaking her to wake her up. She remained unresponsive. Sarada then put two fingers to the pink-haired woman's neck, searching for a pulse. There was none. The confused and exhausted Sarada struggled to pull herself onto her feet. Looking around the room, she noticed one of Sakura's scrolls of medical jutsu was open on the kitchen table, the only piece of furniture that remained intact. She walked up to the table and picked up the scroll, putting it close to her face. She could barely make it out.

"Kishō Tensei...? But... I wasn't..."

She dropped the scroll.

"Why, mama...?"

Sarada fell to her knees and wept.

 _Naruto... I'm coming. This time I won't leave until you believe me..._


	7. Omake 6 - Hanami

_**A happy ending for Himawari.**_

/

 _I guess... I was never destined to see it... It... must have been... my cursed Hyuga blood..._ thought Himawari as her senses left her.

 _I can't feel anything anymore..._

She saw only darkness.

Why _do I still have a consciousness? Hopefully it's not like this forever... I really wanted to find peace in the afterlife and watch over Father... I know he will be happy. I saw it myself. I have no regrets._

She began to hear a voice. She couldn't make out what they were saying or the gender of the speaker. It slowly became more clear.

 _Is that... someone's name?_

 _"_ Hana...-cha..."

"...nami..."

 _Hana...? Nami...? I can't make it out..._

"Hanami... Hanami..."

"You're so cute, Hanami-chan..."

 _Hanami...? That's not my name... I'm Himawari... Himawari... Why can't I remember anything else...? Everything seems so fuzzy now that I'm trying to remember..._

The voices became more distinct.

"Hn. She likes me more than you, Dobe," A male voice said.

"Please try to be nice to Naruto, Sasuke-kun... Oh, Hanami-chan... You're such a good girl. You haven't given us any problems at all... Nothing like Shina-chan..." A female voice replied.

 _Dobe...? That must be Uchiha-san... But what is this...? Am I dreaming...?_

"It's your first day of the Academy, Hanami-chan! I'll come with you. None of the other kids will mess with you after they see you with the Hokage!" The voice sounded a lot like Naruto.

 _Father... Does that mean you still had a daughter? I'm so glad..._

"I'm not letting any boys near Hanami-chan! What if she falls for one like the Teme?! That would be bad..." said a voice that was now clearly Naruto.

"Naruto... Everyone has to grow up someday. I know she's your little girl, but you'll have to let her go one day... Don't worry. It turned out fine for me," said a voice that sounded much like Sakura.

 _Why can I hear all this...? Who is Hanami to me...? I'm Himawari..._

"It's time to wake up, Hanami-chan!"

"Time to get up, Hanami... Good morning..."

"Good luck today, Hanami-chan!"

"Get up, Hanami! It's a beautiful day!"

Male and female voices continued to sound off inside Himawari's head.

 _What's going on...? They're getting louder... There's so many of them._

After a few minutes of this, it became silent. She listened carefully, waiting for the next voice to speak up.

"Hanami-chan," said the familiar voice of her father.

Himawari felt that if she tried hard enough, she would be able to open her eyes. She felt so much hope at this possibility that she was scared to try it, afraid that it wouldn't work.

"What are you still doing in bed, Hanami...? It's almost noon... I know you like to sleep in, but this is ridiculous..." said the voice of Sakura.

Himawari finally worked up the courage. She slowly opened her eyes. She was lying on the bed in her room. It was decorated differently, but the layout was much the same. Her nightclothes felt different on her than she was accustomed to.

She could see her father standing in the doorway wearing his Hokage cloak. Sakura was standing a few feet behind him.

She leapt out of bed and rushed towards a large mirror on the wall.

"Whoa, Hanami-chan... where's the fire?!" Naruto asked incredulously, sounding like he was about to burst into laughter.

Himawari stared into the mirror. A young girl with smooth skin, blue eyes, and pink hair stared back at her.

 _Hanami... This is Hanami...?_

She put a hand up to the mirror. The girl mimicked her gesture.

 _Hanami is... me...?_

"I'm Hanami..." she whispered in shock. Her voice sounded somewhat different. She liked the way it sounded in her head.

She looked over at her father, trying to recall her memories. Other than the name Himawari, the memories from the former timeline were almost completely gone. The new memories as Hanami were clear as day for her, as though they had just happened.

She loved her father even more now. He smiled that warm smile she loved all the time.

She loved Sakura. She had been a loving and attentive mother to her.

She loved her brother Shinachiku. She had a fun, give-and-take rivalry with him instead of the somewhat difficult older sibling relationship she had with Boruto.

She loved her life.

 _This is so wonderful... Father... no... that's not quite right..._

"Daddy, I'm Hanami... I'm so happy... I love you... I'm Hanami... I'm Hanami!"

There was a huge smile on her face. She ran to her father and hugged him.

"I can't believe it... I'm Hanami..."

Naruto returned the hug, slightly confused but smiling softly.

"Yes you are..."

She saw Sakura looking on at the heartfelt scene with a grin.

Hanami finally allowed herself to cry tears of joy.

 _I'm Hanami..._

/

(AN: Think of Naruto's response to the hug as being like Kushina's in 498.

I credit this idea to James S Cassidy from the Heaven & Earth forums. Poor Himawari.)


	8. Omake 7 - Reconciliation

_**Naruto and Sakura meet in the Pure Land of Himawari's universe. A continuation of Omake #5.**_

/

 _So... I'm here. I have to find Naruto and tell him. If I don't, then I never will. It's not going to get any easier,_ Sakura thought as she walked through the atmosphere of the Pure Land. Little points of light floated around her.

As she thought about Naruto, she could feel herself being guided by some incomprehensible force. She followed it at a steady pace. Eventually she saw the outline of a figure topped by yellow.

 _That has to be him..._

"Naruto! NARUTO!" Sakura shouted.

The figure stopped moving. She ran towards him. She was close enough to make out his features. The youthful Naruto was something that made her feel a great nostalgia.

"Naruto!"

She caught up to him and stopped.

"Sakura-chan? You died...? What happened...?" asked the worried Naruto.

"I sacrificed myself to revive Sarada after she was killed by Boruto..." Sakura calmly explained.

"Oh... I'm so sorry, Sakura-chan. It's all my fault. I don't know what happened to make him like that... I guess I should've been a better father. Damn it! I can't believe you're dead... I... I mean, that's awful..."

"It's fine... It's my fault too, Naruto."

"How could it possibly be your fault...? That doesn't make any sense!"

Naruto looked at her seriously. He looked a little upset at the suggestion. Sakura swallowed nervously.

"Because... Naruto..." She looked very uncomfortable.

"Because... what? Just tell me... I won't get angry... I promise, Sakura-chan."

 _It's the promise of a lifetime..._ Sakura thought back to those days. _Naruto never lies... Naruto never breaks a promise. I trust him so much..._

"Because... I love you. I've loved you for a long time... and I should have told you..."

Sakura had done her best to maintain eye contact despite the nervousness she felt. Naruto stared blankly at her.

"Sakura-chan... We're dead. We're both in the afterlife... This isn't the place for-"

"NARUTO!" Sakura shrieked. "Don't finish that sentence. I'm serious... If you ever loved me, don't say what you were going to say. Please don't, Naruto... It will destroy me. You have no idea how much it will hurt me. I'll do anything you want me to... Just don't... I won't be able to handle it, Naruto..."

Sakura looked to be on the verge of tears. Naruto looked at her with concern.

"OK... Sakura-chan... I won't say it. But, Sasuke..."

"Don't even tell me about Sasuke-kun... You have no idea how little there was between Sasuke-kun and I. You would laugh if you knew. I'm really pathetic, Naruto..."

"Don't say that! Never say that, Sakura-chan... You were always so incredible compared to me. I'm just a fool... My own son killed me, and destroyed Konoha... Some Hokage I am..."

"Yeah... Everything has gone to hell for us. I wish we could go back to when we were just kids... I wouldn't have let you get away from me like I did..."

"But, why would you never tell me, Sakura-chan? We were so distant from each other... I loved you too... Sometimes it hurt so much to think about..."

"I realized too late... It was before I had gotten engaged to Sasuke-kun..."

 _It was a couple years after the Fourth War, and Sakura was eating lunch with Sasuke in a restaurant. Sakura was one of the only people in Konoha that Sasuke was close to, so he often spent time with her. They weren't in a relationship, but the two friends would often eat together._

 _"Hn... Sakura. Have you spoken with Naruto recently?" Sasuke asked._

 _"No... He's always with Hinata. That baka forgot about his friends... I should pound him." Sakura replied._

 _"He's been with her for some time now... Do you think they'll get married?"_

 _Sakura started to feel sick to her stomach._

 _Strange... The food here is usually good, she thought._

 _"I don't know, Sasuke-kun. Probably..."_

 _"Would you ever consider marrying me?"_

 _The pinkette stared at Sasuke with wide eyes, blushing slightly. Sasuke remained stone-faced._

 _"Where did that come from...?"_

 _"You don't have to answer me right now."_

 _"I don't know, Sasuke-kun... It's been so long and I'm not sure about anything anymore. I don't know if I'm ready to get married... And I don't know if I still love you."_

 _"It's fine if you don't."_

 _Sakura's eye twitched._

 _"What do you mean, it's fine? Of course it isn't fine!"_

 _"Hn. It's really fine. I wouldn't demand very much from you. I need a wife who can look after the Uchiha estate while I am away. You would have access to all the money and properties attached to it. You are the only woman in Konoha I trust and probably the only woman in Konoha I will ever trust, so you are the only choice."_

 _Sakura felt somehow flattered and disappointed simultaneously. She decided to learn more about what the Uchiha had in mind._

 _"What about children? Didn't you want to restore your clan?"_

 _"Hn. I have already restored my clan. The honor was restored to my clan when I killed Shimura Danzo. I may have a child in the future. It would not be with you."_

 _Sakura looked rather irritated._

 _"Why wouldn't you want it to be with me? What's so bad about me?"_

 _"Nothing that you have any control over... You're a civilian-born kunoichi with pink hair. Ideally, the mother of my child would have a bloodline. And the possibility of an Uchiha child with pink hair, however remote, is not something I am willing to accept."_

 _"Oh... I see. Erm... What..." Sakura coughed nervously. She cleared her throat and started speaking again. "Sasuke-kun... What about... sex? Wouldn't you be interested in that...? This is so weird..."_

 _"Hn. Again, not with you. For me, it's not worth the awkwardness it would create. If you feel differently, and won't agree to the marriage otherwise, we could-"_

 _There was something Sakura simply had to ask. It was a question that had been constantly on her mind for a huge part of her teenage years. There was a strong likelihood that this would be her only chance to know the answer._

 _She lifted her hand from its resting position on the table in a 'stop' gesture, interrupting Sasuke._

 _"...Why not with me...? Sasuke-kun." Sakura asked._

 _"I've just never been very attracted to you. I have no idea why not. I would rather not discuss this anymore," Sasuke replied, slightly put out but remaining stoic._

 _"OK... I guess I understand... I'll think about it..."_

 _"I'll need your answer in a week. I have to go back to hunting for information on Kaguya after that."_

 _Sasuke stood up and moved to depart._

 _"See you later, Sakura."_

 _"Bye, Sasuke-kun..."_

 _Sakura remained sitting at the table for some time. She was in deep thought._

 _Would I really get married to Sasuke-kun...? Uchiha Sakura... I used to dream about having that name, she thought._

 _She retrieved a compact from her bag and examined her face in the mirror, thinking about how it could be the face of the future Uchiha matriarch._

 _Argh, I don't know what to do... Is it alright to spend the rest of my life attached to Sasuke-kun? What would it be like? It wouldn't be romantic at all, but it's not like I have other prospects... And Naruto is always with Hinata, she thought._

 _She thought about Naruto. He always used to make her smile. Always being such a goofball, doing little things to make her laugh._

 _"Sakura-chan!" His voice echoed in her mind._

 _Damn, I miss you, Naruto. Why is Hinata the lucky one...? I thought he loved me...?_

 _"Sakura-chan!" She envisioned his smiling face, locks of blonde hair moving in the wind._

 _Oh God... After all this time... Why after all this time? I'm such an idiot... He definitely thinks that I'm_ already _with Sasuke... and he's with Hinata..._

 _She hopped out of her chair and walked quickly out of the restaurant._

 _There is no way he'll believe me... He'll probably laugh in my face. How can I possibly tell him?_

"I was just so ashamed, Naruto. You were so good to me. You were such a wonderful person. And yet it took me so long... I thought I still wanted someone who was more likely to impale me on his arm than kiss me. I felt like such a fool thinking about it. I didn't deserve you at all..." Sakura explained.

"Oh... I've always loved you, Sakura-chan... I never thought about if you deserved it or not. But if I had to, I would say that you do... And you always will. You're amazing, Sakura-chan. I think I'll always love you... I realized several years ago that I would probably never be able to stop. And it hurt so much thinking that I would never be with you. Thinking that Sasuke was with you... When he would come back to Konoha, I would occasionally get angry with him for no reason... Heh, I'm pathetic, too..." Naruto chuckled.

"I just couldn't bear facing you and telling you that when you were with Hinata. I thought you would laugh at me. I thought you probably loved Hinata instead of me. I thought there was no way you would believe me... I couldn't bear to see the look on your face when you didn't," Sakura said with a sad smile on her face.

"And Sasuke-kun made it so easy for me. I accepted his offer... He wasn't going to ask me to betray the love I had for you... I'd be married so I'd have a reason not to be able to confess to you... It was a perfect situation for me to be a coward and run away from the way I felt about you. Pretend like I was being noble and letting you be happy with Hinata... When I knew on some level that the love you felt for me could still be hurting you... And thinking that I was with Sasuke-kun in that way probably hurt you even more... He was your rival... At the very least, I shouldn't have let you think that... I ran away from you for so many years... I made us both so miserable... I'm so sorry, Naruto!" Sakura finished. She looked extremely depressed.

"I don't know what to say... I wish you had told me. I really do, Sakura-chan..."

"I hope you can forgive me... I'll wait as long as it takes until you can."

"I forgive you, Sakura-chan. I love you."

Sakura suddenly glared at Naruto, raising her fist.

"NARUTO! This isn't something you can just forgive so easily! My actions caused our deaths! I didn't tell you I loved you! I pretended I was still in love with your best friend and ended up getting married to him! The marriage was a farce, but I still let you assume that it had been consummated! Then I avoided you for the next fifteen years, never telling you how I felt or the truth about any of this! The end result is that we're both dead on account of a sociopath who would never have been born if not for my cowardice and stupidity! And you forgive me right away?! Are you being serious right now?!"

The pinkette was breathing heavily, out of breath from her tirade. She continued to glare at Naruto with fist clenched.

"Of course, Sakura-chan. I'm just so happy that you love me. I would forgive anything for you. And I can't blame you for most of that... I was with Hinata... I had given up on you. It's my fault that I didn't keep trying. I'm really sorry too, Sakura-chan," Naruto explained with a nervous smile on his face.

"You stupid baka... You're just unbelievable... Let's get out of here..."

She grabbed Naruto's hand and started dragging him towards a new destination.

"Ow! Sakura-chan! I think you dislocated my arm..." Naruto whined.

"I'll heal it when we get there!"


	9. Omake 8 - Boruto in darkness

_**Boruto's fall into darkness.**_

/

 _A shinobi endures... What a fucking joke,_ Uzumaki Boruto thought.

The blonde was reading a Jonin-level fuinjutsu tome in the Jonin library. He had broken up with his girlfriend Uchiha Sarada yesterday. His father the Hokage had refused to give him an A- or S-ranked mission, even though he desperately needed to take his mind off of things. He felt very restless.

 _That fucking bitch... I can't believe her. I don't set aside enough time for her? Who the fuck is she to dictate my time for me? It's not like she's anything special. For an Uchiha, her skills are very mediocre. She'll never be even close to Sasuke-sensei or any of the pre-massacre Mangekyo users. She's just pathetic. What a disappointment she is. I'm glad I don't have to look at her anymore. And my idiot father... Doesn't he understand I need a mission when things get like this? What the hell am I supposed to do with myself?_

Boruto's face warped itself into a deeper and deeper scowl as he mentally catalogued his grievances.

 _Why should I have to endure this bullshit? I'm strong enough to teach these people not to fuck with me. Don't fucking take me for granted!_

The angry Boruto stood up and hurled the fuinjutsu book at the wall. It crashed loudly to the floor. An older Jonin glared at Boruto.

"What's your problem, kid?" the Jonin asked.

"Fuck off, you shitty old man. You do not want to fuck with me," Boruto replied.

"You disrespectful little-"

Boruto shunshined out as the man was talking. He ended up close to a shinobi supply store.

 _I'm not going to stand for this garbage anymore. I'm one of the best ninjas in this shitty village. Fuck it, I'm not waiting any longer. Time to make some advanced sealing tags. Being an Uzumaki sure is awesome. My father is a fucking idiot for never learning fuinjutsu. He's even more Uzumaki than I am and he couldn't make a tag to seal even one kunai. I guess he's too stupid. Haha._

He bought some sealing materials and went to his apartment. He lived alone, so he had access to as much space as he wanted.

 _Hmm... This is going to be fairly difficult and tedious. I'll make it worth my time, though..._

/

A few days had passed. Boruto had finished everything that he needed. He placed the various items inside his Jonin vest for quick access. It was midnight.

 _I guess I need to save the big stuff for later... It wouldn't be wise to risk everything at the start. Hopefully everything works. Let's take care of one of the smaller pains in my ass first... Time to go to the Hokage Tower._

He jumped out of his bedroom window and shunshined to the vicinity of the Hokage tower.

 _It's pretty dark, there's probably only a couple ANBU hanging around the outside of it. I sense four or so... Eh, who cares?_

"Meisaigakure no Jutsu," Boruto intoned. He became transparent.

 _This isn't going to fool these fucks for that long... I need to get in and disable the chakra barrier._

He quickly darted into the tower through a window and rushed to the door to the Hokage office. He slapped a tag onto the door. He could feel a lot of chakra draining into the tag.

 _Good thing Pops explained how this worked... Heh, what a dumbass. "How do you stop people from eating your ramen cups when you're not there, Dad?" Of course he tells me the truth. Moron._

He opened the door and moved into the room. He saw the sensitive information cabinet in the corner, which was locked by a simple mechanical system. He simply busted it open.

 _Not like I give a shit, no one is going to suspect me... I'm the son of the Hokage, after all._

He looked at the active shinobi mission records under U. He located the familiar name.

 _Here we go..._

 _Mission Report Form_

 _Rank: B_

 _Location: Wind Country_

 _Shinobi assignment: Uchiha Sarada (Tokubetsu Jonin)_

 _Start date: 6/3/2161_

 _Estimated end date: 6/15/2161_

 _Mission type: Diplomatic_

 _Blah blah blah, mission description, try to improve relations of Konoha, attend some bullshit gathering, flirt with some stupid and probably perverted idiot of a prince. Piss easy. How the hell is this a B-rank?_

 _Note: Assigned shinobi will receive pay equivalent to an A-rank mission._

 _Dad, you're such a fucking prick. I know you like her more than your actual kids, but must you bribe her as well? Whatever, it's not going to matter soon._

Boruto shoved the sheet back into the folder.

 _So, she's done today. She should be on the road for a couple days coming back... Good._

The blonde exited the tower the way he came in. He kept his jutsu active and snuck out of Konoha.

/

Sarada was heading back to Konoha along one of the main roads in Wind Country. The mission had gone fairly well for her. The dignitaries and royalty she had to ingratiate herself with gave her an easy time. They seemed to like her earnest personality.

 _I can't wait to get back... Papa is going to come home soon, I heard. I wonder if he'll actually give mama a kiss this time? Probably not. Haha, it's not really his style,_ Sarada thought.

She saw a figure standing in the middle of the path. From a distance she could make out yellow and black.

 _What's this guy doing...? I doubt he actually has any malicious intent... No one like that would just stand out in the open where anyone can see them._

She continued to tree-hop to get close enough to regard the individual. When she got closer, she realized it was Boruto.

 _Boruto...? What the hell does he want...?_

"Hey, Boruto! What the hell are you doing here? What do you want?" Sarada shouted in irritation.

"Sarada-chan!" Boruto said with a goofy lilt, similar to his father acknowledging a woman of Haruno descent. "How are you?"

"I was fine until you got here... Seriously, just what do you want, Boruto? You know I asked you to leave me alone for a while... I'm not very happy with you right now," the bespectacled Uchiha replied.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that just yet," said Boruto in a sing-song voice.

"What?" Sarada took a step forward in increasing anger. "Get the hell away from me, Boruto! You..." Her speech trailed off as she suddenly sensed danger.

The explosive tags buried in the ground exploded. Sarada had sensed their activation at the last second and managed to avoid major damage.

"What are you doing, you idiot? You want to fight me?!" she said angrily.

She activated her eyes and adopted the interceptor stance.

"We're already fighting, smart one. Katon: Goryuka no Jutsu," intoned the Uzumaki.

The flaming dragon's head flew towards Sarada.

 _Goryuka?! Since when does he have Katon? What the hell has he been doing?_

Sarada flashed through hand seals.

"Katon: Gokyaku no-"

Boruto had used the flames as cover to flash close to her. It actually looked like part of the Gokyaku was going to hit him, but she was caught off guard.

"-Jutsu," Sarada finished, eyes widening in surprise.

"Chidori Nagashi."

The blonde erupted in blue lightning, striking Sarada in ten places. The fireball had singed Boruto pretty badly, but she was much worse off. She was holding her left side and bleeding fairly heavily.

"What the fuck... Boruto..." she coughed out. "You want to kill me...?"

"Hahaha! Did you like that, Sarada-chan? It's your dad's move. It took so much pestering to get him to teach it to me back then," Boruto said, cackling.

"Boruto, you piece of shit... You're so dead... My dad's going to kill you... There's no way you can even hide from him... You're going to die."

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe he will, maybe he won't. There's a sealing scroll with your name on it, though. I'm not sure how long you're going to last in there. It's a good thing that what I need from you doesn't have an expiration date. So long," Boruto said, sounding very disinterested.

"You want... the Sharin-"

Sarada felt a blow to the back of her neck. Everything went black.

/

Boruto packed up the scroll after storing Sarada inside.

 _I need to take care of my dad first. I have a feeling that one of the things I can get from him will help me use those eyes of hers. Soon, I'll be able to do anything I want, and no one will be able to stop me._

He headed back to Konoha at a quick pace, trying to arrive before it got too dark. Arriving at the front gate, he checked in with the guards.

"Hey, Boruto-kun. Where's your mission papers?" the guard asked.

"Come on, Izumo-san... You know me. I'm the Hokage's son. Don't make me dig them out. I'm so fucking tired," Boruto replied, sounding like he hated life.

"Well, okay... I guess. Go on through."

"Thanks."

Boruto went to his apartment and fell asleep quickly, not bothering to take off his battle-damaged shinobi gear.

The next day, the Uzumaki spent the whole morning and afternoon double-checking his sealing work, both on paper and his own body. In the evening, he headed to his father's house, the Hokage mansion. Though he had moved out, he still visited often since he was lazy to move all his things to his new residence. The young man knew that his mother was busy attending some sort of important gathering with his aunt Hanabi and his sister had left on a mission. He entered and walked into the kitchen. Boruto saw his father sitting at the kitchen counter, drinking some sake and staring into space.

 _Typical shitty dad behavior,_ thought Boruto.

"Hey, Dad?" the son of the Hokage asked in what he supposed was a friendly way.

"Dad...?" he asked again when Naruto didn't reply. "Dad!" His father turned and looked at him.

"Oh, hey son. How's it going? I'm really sorry I couldn't get you a mission... It's been a mess lately. Someone even broke into the Hokage office."

"It's fine, Dad. I know that me and Sarada will reunite one day," Boruto said, laughing on the inside.

"That's the spirit, son! Never give up on the girl of your dreams. It's worth it. You'll always be happy... I think," Naruto said in an odd way. He was obviously somewhat intoxicated.

"You think? Is that not what you actually did? Eh, I don't even care. Listen, I've been studying fuinjutsu a lot lately. Do you think I could take a look at your seal?"

"You mean the one for Kurama...?"

"Yeah."

"Sure, I don't see why not..."

Boruto grinned internally.


	10. Omake 9 - In the nick of time

_**Sakura and Naruto get together in the original timeline. What will happen with Boruto?**_

/

Naruto was sitting at home at the Hokage mansion looking over some scrolls that Shikamaru had left for him. He was very concerned about the fact that someone had broken into the Hokage office and he wanted to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible. He heard the sound of someone entering through the front door. He looked and saw that it was his son, Boruto.

"Hey, dad," Boruto said, greeting his father casually. "Sakura-san isn't here?"

Naruto thought back to five years ago when everything had changed.

 _Naruto was heading home from work. He had been depressed about his family, so he had had a couple drinks while he was working. As he turned a corner, he crashed into someone who was about a foot shorter than he was._

 _"Ow! Excuse me... Wait, Naruto?"_

 _Naruto found himself facing Sakura who was looking at him with a surprised expression. He smiled weakly at her._

 _"Oh, it's you, Sakura-chan... Come on, I'll walk you home." he said._

 _The two teammates walked side by side to the Uchiha home, making small talk. When they arrived, they stopped. Sakura had noticed that Naruto was being uncharacteristically reserved._

 _"Are you okay, Naruto...?" she asked._

 _"I don't know, Sakura-chan... Everything is so screwed up. Nothing is the way that I envisioned it being... I feel like a failure. My son hates me. I guess I wasn't a good father... I feel like I messed up my life and there's no way I can fix it, Sakura-chan."_

 _Sakura stared at him. She didn't like this at all. This was nothing like Naruto._

 _"Naruto, you're completely wrong. You're the opposite of a failure... You're the most wonderful person I've ever known. I've always thought so... You deserve to get everything you want, Naruto," Sakura said, looking at him seriously._

 _Naruto looked at her with a wistful smile on his face._

 _"I wish that were really true, Sakura-chan..."_

 _Sakura's eyes widened in shock._

 _The way he's looking at me... Is it me? Am I still hurting him even now...? Naruto... thought Sakura._

 _"Naruto... I'm so sorry!"_

 _She suddenly hugged Naruto. Naruto was stunned for a few seconds before reciprocating. He looked like he was struggling inside and tried to say something._

 _"Sakura-chan... Can you... Damn it..."_

 _"What is it, Naruto?"_

 _"Can I just be selfish this one time...? Sakura-chan... I..."_

 _Naruto's voice sounded very pained. His grip on her tightened._

 _Does he still... Oh God... All this time... Naruto... I am so selfish and stupid... thought Sakura, internally cursing herself._

 _"Sakura-chan... I want to ask if you..." Naruto continued._

 _"I love you, Naruto..."_

 _"What...?"_

 _Naruto tried to break away from Sakura. She pulled him closer to her, pushed her lips against his briefly, then held him by the shoulders and stared into his eyes._

 _"I love you! Naruto, I am so sorry. I was so stupid. Please forgive me... I made a huge mistake. I'm unhappy, too. I should have been honest with you a long time ago... I want to change all of this. I love you with all my heart, Naruto."_

 _"Sakura-chan..."_

 _She looks so serious... Am I dreaming? This is amazing, Naruto thought._

 _"Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted joyously._

 _He picked Sakura up and spun her around._

 _"What are you doing?! Put me down! Baka!"_

 _/_

After that, the two of them had discussed the situation with their families.

Hinata was much less upset than anyone expected. She simply expressed that she was sorry that she couldn't make Naruto happy, and she was glad Naruto had thought she was worth spending a part of his life with. She only wished that they continue to work together to take care of their children. Naruto agreed, feeling somewhat guilty. The two of them divorced amicably a few months later. Hinata returned to the Hyuga estate. Boruto chose to stay with Hinata, and Himawari lived with Naruto half the time and Hinata the other half.

Himawari had been hurt by it, but she had too much love for her father to hold anything against him. Naruto explained to her how he had always felt towards Sakura and that he believed he couldn't be happy without her in his life. Himawari said she understood and wanted to get to know Sakura better; she must be amazing if her father loves her so much.

Boruto really didn't care at all. His relationship with his father was so bad at that point, it almost couldn't get any worse. He honestly thought his mother was better off without Naruto. Leaving his mother was something he had practically expected from Naruto. They improved their relations later on, but things between him and Naruto continued to be awkward.

Sarada was glad to see her mother happy, and she had always admired Naruto. She spent more time around the two of them than Naruto's children did. She really enjoyed seeing her mother's interactions with Naruto. It was a side of Sakura that she had rarely seen before.

She couldn't have been happier for the couple, but she was concerned about her father's reaction. It didn't really make any sense to Sarada.

 _Sakura had come to spend the night with Naruto at his home, the Hokage mansion. It had been several months after they had first talked. She had brought Sarada with her as she had wanted to visit Naruto. He had promised to help her work on a jutsu. Himawari was staying with Hinata, so it was just the three of them._

 _Naruto helped Sarada with the jutsu, then they had dinner together. Then Naruto went out to pick up some bath products that Sakura wanted. They were of a type that Hinata had never used, so Naruto had to go buy them. The two women were relaxing after the night's events. Sarada was upstairs on the balcony while Sakura was sitting in the living room wearing a pair of pink pajamas. She was waiting for Naruto to return so she could finally take a bath. She heard the sound of the front door opening and someone walking in. Sakura stood up._

 _"Naruto...?" she called._

 _She went to see who it was. As it turned out, it was Sasuke, dressed in the attire that was typical for him when traveling. It seemed he had just returned to Konoha after some years away._

 _"Sasuke-kun..." mumbled Sakura when she found herself facing him. Sarada was listening to the exchange from her position hidden on the balcony._

 _"Hn. Sakura. What are you doing at Naruto's house?" questioned Sasuke. He remained standing in the doorway._

 _"Sasuke-kun, please let me explain."_

 _"No need to explain. You're obviously involved with Naruto. I really don't care. I still trust you. Please continue to safeguard the interests of the Uchiha as you always have."_

 _Sarada's mouth fell open in shock._

 _That's his reaction...? Are you serious...?, thought the younger Uchiha._

 _Sakura became teary-eyed. She tackled Sasuke and hugged him tightly._

 _"Of course I will! Thank you so much... Over all these years, you've truly become my best friend... Sasuke," said an emotional Sakura._

 _Sasuke extricated himself from her embrace, blushing very slightly._

 _"Hn. I have other business to attend to. Since Naruto clearly isn't here, I'm leaving now. See you later, Sakura."_

 _He turned to leave._

 _"And you, Sarada," Sasuke finally stated._

 _Sakura smiled nostalgically as she watched him walk away. Sarada jumped down from her hiding spot and stood next to Sakura._

 _"Papa..." Sarada softly muttered as the Uchiha's figure got smaller and smaller in the distance._

 _/_

The couple still weren't at the point of living together. They planned to wait until both Sarada and Himawari were living on their own. Sasuke didn't ask them to be discreet, but Naruto and Sakura didn't want anyone to think badly of him. Sarada eventually came to understand that Sasuke had simply never looked at her adoptive mother that way.

"Dad?" Boruto asked again. Naruto finished reminiscing.

"Yeah, no. She has some business at the Hokage Tower," Naruto replied.

"Oh, okay!" Boruto grinned in what he supposed was a friendly way. "Say, Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"I've been studying fuinjutsu a lot lately. You think I could take a look at your seal?"

"You mean the Hakke no Fuin Shiki that holds Kurama?"

"Yeah, that one."

"Sure, I guess," Naruto grabbed the hem of his shirt. Just as he did so, there was a crash as the front door slammed open. As they turned to look, both father and son heard a cry of "Shannaro!" and could feel the floor underneath them being torn apart. Naruto was able to regain his footing, but Boruto tripped and fell backwards.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled from where she had punched the ground near the entrance to the mansion.

"Sakura-chan? What's going on?" Naruto asked, still looking at Boruto.

"Don't trust him. Sarada was supposed to return from her mission today, but she didn't! This was after the two of them had a fight! Then I heard about your office being broken into. A while ago, Sasuke told me that there might be something wrong with Boruto. I think he did something to Sarada! Naruto, be careful!"

"Sakura-chan..." Naruto replied, not really knowing what to do.

"Dad, are you really going to listen to her over me? I'm your only son! She's just a..." Boruto said, playing at innocence as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Boruto, be quiet. You can't imagine how much she means to me. Just stay where you are and don't move. If you really didn't do anything, I promise nothing bad will happen," Naruto interjected, making a ram sign.

A clone appeared and ran off to retrieve a squad of ANBU. Sakura let the clone pass and moved to stand by Naruto. She glared at Boruto apprehensively. The blonde's calm facade was slowly falling apart as he realized his plan would never work now.

"Grr... God damn it! How the hell did this happen? You fucked everything up for me... How? You fucking pink bitch! I should've-" Boruto ranted before he was cut off by Sakura punching him in the face. She didn't use full force, but he was sent flying and crashed through a wall. Naruto and Sakura followed him through the newly created opening. Boruto was laying there on the floor, stunned but still conscious.

"I hope the ANBU arrives soon... Thank you for trusting me, Naruto," Sakura said as she wrapped an arm around Naruto protectively.

"Of course... I think you might have saved my life, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, returning the one-armed embrace as the two watched the prone Boruto.

"It wouldn't be the first time, baka."

Shikamaru arrived along with a group of four ANBU. Naruto's clone had explained the situation to him. He held Boruto in place using his clan jutsu.

"Search him. We still don't know what he planned to do or where Sarada is," Shikamaru said. The ANBU did as he instructed while Naruto and Sakura observed. They pulled out several sealing tags and a large scroll.

"I think he intended to take the Kyuubi from you at the very least, Hokage-sama," Shikamaru continued after having seen the tags.

"Oh, God... What the hell is wrong with you, Boruto...?" Naruto wondered. Boruto only glared at him.

"This is scary, Naruto... If we can't trust the people close to us, then what are we supposed to do?" Sakura said, pulling Naruto a little closer to her.

"I don't know... I'm so lucky that you showed up, Sakura-chan," Naruto replied.

"You'd be lost without me, Naruto-baka... Hey, Shikamaru. What's that big one?" asked Sakura.

Shikamaru signaled an ANBU who then grabbed the big scroll and unsealed it. A seriously wounded but still conscious Sarada appeared in front of where Boruto was being restrained. She wasn't wearing her glasses and her clothes were badly burned.

"Mama... Naruto... You have to stop Boruto... He wants my Sharingan..." Sarada muttered weakly.

"Oh no... What happened, Sarada?! What did that bastard do to you?! My poor baby girl..." Sakura said, pushing off of Naruto. She knelt next to Sarada's position on the floor and started healing her.

"He ambushed me as I was returning from my mission... He's crazy... You have to stop him..." Sarada explained.

"We already took care of him. He's behind you," Shikamaru replied.

"Boruto, you little shit... How dare you? I should fucking kill you..." Sakura spat angrily while glaring at Boruto. Boruto grinned back in a taunting fashion.

Sakura continued to heal the dark-haired girl. In the meantime, Naruto and the ANBU examined the seals Boruto had planned to use while Shikamaru kept Boruto disabled. After they had finished cataloging everything the younger Uzumaki had on him, Sarada's major wounds had been healed and she wasn't in much pain anymore.

When Sakura had finished healing Sarada, the pinkette stood up from her position on the floor with a murderous look on her face. She stomped over to where Boruto was being restrained. Then she started kicking him in the midsection and the lower half of his body over and over again, which eventually sent the young man flying into a wall. He landed in a painful heap.

"Ow! Fuck! Stop it, Sakura! God damn it! ANBU, restrain her!" yelled Shikamaru from where he had fallen over, face contorted in pain. He somehow managed to retain control of his jutsu.

The ANBU moved to stop Sakura. Two of them took hold of her arms and dragged her away from the fallen Boruto.

"Heh... Sorry about that, Shikamaru..." Sakura said sheepishly.

"Yeah, sure... No problem... I really don't envy you, Naruto..." Shikamaru muttered, still somewhat hurting.

Naruto chuckled before remembering that his son had just tried to murder him. He became serious and looked at Sarada, who was now sitting up and facing him and Sakura.

"Sarada-chan, we'll need to have a hearing. Will you be able to testify against Boruto?" Naruto asked.

"Of course... That asshole nearly killed me... By all rights, I shouldn't even be alive... You'll never have my Sharingan! You hear me, Boruto, you fuck?!" Sarada shouted, not bothering to turn her head to look at Boruto. He couldn't hear her, as he had passed out when he hit the wall.

The ANBU dragged the fallen blonde away as Sakura apologized to Shikamaru again. Shikamaru nodded and walked out. Naruto and Sakura looked at each other.

"I'm so glad I made it here in time..." Sakura said.

"Thank you, Sakura-chan," Naruto replied.

"Thank you both... I thought I was going to die in there," Sarada said gratefully.

Both Sakura and Naruto wrapped an arm around Sarada, supporting her weight. They slowly walked to the hospital.


	11. Omake 10 - The end of Uzumaki Boruto

_**The day of Boruto's execution. A continuation of Omake #9.**_

/

Many were in attendance. Seated in a half-circle around the stage were most of the Konoha 12 and their friends and family, as well as many important civilian figures and people working for the Hokage's office. Naruto was seated between Sakura and Hinata, while Sasuke was seated between Sakura and Sarada. At the center of the stage was the fallen son of the Hokage, Uzumaki Boruto. He was on his knees in chakra restraints. Nara Shikamaru was standing next to him wearing his Jonin vest and holding a sheet of paper. A member of ANBU stood at each corner of the stage.

Shikamaru began to speak, reading off of the paper.

"The offender was accused of the attempted assassination of the Hokage and the attempted murder of a Konoha shinobi. The penalty for these crimes is death. He was found guilty. No mitigating circumstances were presented by the offender at his hearing. The sentence will now be carried out. Does the offender have any last words?" he said. He turned to look at Boruto.

"Hmph. Sure. You're all so fucking selfish. You all always saw it as way too much trouble to take the time to help me. It's like you're all friends, this special club that none of us were ever allowed to join. And if you're not in the club, then you're not worth the time. Now I'm a threat, so you're going to kill me. Whatever. You fucking cowards. Just get it over with. I'm sick of this," Boruto said angrily. He spat in the direction of the crowd.

"Very well. The execution will be carried out by a Konoha shinobi of Elite Jonin rank. That shinobi is Uchiha Sasuke. We would ask that he come forward at this time," announced Shikamaru. He then walked off the stage.

In the crowd, Sasuke stood up. His comrades sitting nearby glanced at him as he did so.

Sasuke looked at Boruto. His friend's son had his head down and wasn't paying attention to the proceedings. The Uchiha thought back to the day of the hearing.

 _Sasuke was sitting between Naruto and Sakura at the hearing of Uzumaki Boruto. He was observing his daughter intently. Sarada was on the stand answering questions about Boruto's attack on her. The questions were being asked by an Interrogation & Torture shinobi._

 _"After that, he got me with the jutsu... It felt like_ _my nerves were on fire and my skin was being ripped off... Then he laughed at me and said something," Sarada explained._

 _"What exactly did he say, if you can remember?" asked the I &T shinobi._

 _"I think he said something like... It was so much trouble to get my father to teach it to him," Sarada said bitterly._

 _"You mean the jutsu he used against you?"_

 _"Yes."_

 _In the audience, Sasuke was looking down at the ground, trembling. Sasuke felt Naruto put a hand on his shoulder and heard Sakura say something to him. Others in attendance looked at him with concern. The raven-haired man was beside himself, not actually hearing what Sakura said._

 _He couldn't bear to look at Sarada anymore. He knew very well the effects that his jutsu, which was adapted from the Chidori, had on a person. The elder Uchiha didn't want to think about what it would have done to his daughter's smaller and more slender body compared to those he had used it on in the past. The pain that would have been evident on her rounded, angelic face._

 _Boruto was going to die._

/

Sasuke walked onto the stage as he regarded Boruto with a cold stare. Boruto lifted his head and looked at Sasuke. The blonde smirked.

"Oh, it's Sensei! Couldn't you guys get someone who isn't a fucking cuckold to kill me? What is it, Sensei? Are you mad that your wife left you for a real man? She left you for an Uzumaki! And now, you're going to take your anger out on me because I look like him! Grow up, Sensei!" Boruto shouted in an attempt to frustrate Sasuke.

There were murmurs in the crowd and a few people glanced at Sakura, who was holding Naruto's hand. She continued to watch the proceedings as if nothing of importance was said. The raven remained stone-faced.

"You don't understand anything, Boruto. You never have. You only thought about your own desires. You've truly fallen into darkness. You ruined your life, Boruto," Sasuke stated calmly.

"Fancy words. I'm not impressed. After all, you abandoned me, too. You're pathetic, Sensei. Just do it already. I'm sick of looking at you," Boruto spat. He glared at Sasuke.

Thinking about how Sarada had been hurt, Sasuke found it easy to shift his eyes into their Mangekyo state despite not having used them in some time.

"Gladly," His left eye spun. "Amaterasu."

The black flames soared towards Boruto. Sasuke turned his back on him and walked off the stage. He could hear Boruto screaming from behind him. The Uchiha saw that everyone in the audience was turning their heads to avoid looking at the ghastly scene. He walked to his seat and sat down.

When the screaming stopped, Sasuke's right eye spun. The flames died out.

/

Naruto had attended Boruto's funeral along with Sarada, Sakura, and his family. Sasuke had not been present. The grave was marked simply with _Uzumaki Boruto_ and the dates of birth and death. He received no entry on the memorial stone.

As the five shinobi stood in front of the grave, they thought about Boruto and what could have caused him to turn out this way. After some time, the younger shinobi left, leaving only Hinata, Sakura, and Naruto standing in front of the stone. Then Hinata wiped her last tears, said goodbye, and began to walk away. Sakura had started to go with her before noticing that Naruto wasn't moving. She decided to stay to comfort Naruto.

The two of them stood there holding hands for a few minutes until Sakura looked over at Naruto. When Naruto finally looked up from the stone and returned Sakura's gaze, she began to speak.

"Naruto, why don't we get married? I'm not getting any younger, and Sarada's going to be old enough to move out pretty soon... I love her, but I'd like to have a child of my own before I get too old," Sakura said. She grinned.

Naruto's eyes widened. His somber expression turned into a beaming smile.

"Really, Sakura-chan?!" asked an elated Naruto.

"Of course, Naruto... I talked to Sasuke. He said he can find someone else to help him with his affairs. He told me to find my own happiness. And I know that for me, it's with you. I love you, Naruto."

"I love you too! So much, Sakura-chan!"

The couple embraced and shared a kiss. Then the two of them walked off, each with an arm around the other.


	12. Omake 11 - Boruto finds Sasuke

**Boruto tracks down Sasuke after Sasuke sends Himawari back.**

/

Boruto had just come across his little sister during his rampage through Konoha. He had an amusing conversation with her and sent her on her way. He chuckled to himself.

 _Haha... I hope she enjoys that mercy. She's earned that much,_ Boruto thought.

Then the blonde detected a large chakra signature. He turned to look in its direction.

 _Hmm... Not many people have chakra like that. I should head over there..._

As he started to run that way, the signature disappeared.

 _Fast... Well, I'll keep going that way. Whoever that is, they're one of the only people left that could pose a threat to me. I need to deal with this._

After some time, he detected the signature again. It was clearly heading towards Water Country. He followed it at a safe distance.

/

Boruto followed the chakra signature for some time. When it stopped, he slowed his pace and tried to hide his own chakra signature to remain surreptitious. He found himself in a forest in Water Country. He crept towards the signature. As he got closer, he suddenly detected another, much smaller one nearby the first one. It was very familiar to him.

 _That is really similar to Himawari's... And I first detected the big one near the place where I found her... Something is very wrong here,_ Boruto thought.

Then there was a large flash of light. The confused Boruto blinked repeatedly.

 _What the hell? Wait... Now the other signature's gone?! Fuck this sneaking around._

He stopped trying to hide himself and just rushed towards where the flash of light originated. The blonde found himself in a large forest clearing. There were burnt out seal markings on the ground. He gazed at them angrily.

 _What the fuck happened here... I don't like this._

Boruto looked over to the other end of the clearing. There he saw a familiar black-cloaked figure. It was his old sensei, Uchiha Sasuke. He was casually walking towards him.

 _Sensei...? Fuck... I didn't think it would be him. Well, I can take him easily. After Dad and the Sharingan, he's probably no match._

He called out to Sasuke.

"So it's you, Sasuke-sensei. What were you up to over here by yourself?" Boruto shouted.

Sasuke continued walking towards him calmly. After taking several steps, he finally spoke.

"I wasn't by myself," Sasuke replied.

"So you were with Himawari? Where did she go?"

Sasuke smirked at Boruto.

"Don't worry about that."

Boruto grinned back at Sasuke.

"What, me worry? It's Himawari. She's completely pathetic."

Sasuke stopped walking. He looked at Boruto with pity.

"You've lost, Boruto."

Boruto frowned in confusion.

"How the fuck have I lost? You think you can defeat me? I have a Sharingan now, if you didn't figure that out yet. Want to know where I got it?"

Sasuke frowned back at Boruto. After a few moments, his face returned to normal.

"That doesn't concern me. I believe in Himawari. She will end your existence."

The Uzumaki laughed.

"Hahaha! Himawari? I told you, she's so damn pathetic. She had a hard time beating a fucking Genin! If she's your best hope you should just beg for mercy right now," He pointed at Sasuke with a victorious grin on his face. "I told you, Sensei. I'm more powerful than even you, now. No one can stop me."

"That doesn't matter, Boruto. What you don't understand, and what I used to not understand is that power isn't everything. The will to protect a precious person will always triumph over power."

"I don't see anyone around here for you to protect, Sensei! Sarada is dead! Apparently, that doesn't bother you. You're crazier than I am!"

Boruto laughed at Sasuke. The Uchiha's face remained impassive, continuing to look at Boruto with pity. After a few moments, the blonde gave Sasuke a questioning look.

"What, you don't even care that I killed Sarada? Is your mind that broken? Fine, Sensei. I'll put you out of your misery," Boruto declared.

Boruto began to flash through hand signs quickly. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him.

Then the world began to warp around the two shinobi. Boruto found it difficult to perform his hand signs. It was like moving through molasses. Everything in his vision was distorted.

"What the hell? Is this your jutsu?!" Boruto asked frantically. His voice was modulating as if he was speaking slowly. "Why can't I move?!"

All of Boruto's senses were slipping away. The last thing he saw was Sasuke smirking at him.

"Oblivion awaits, Boruto."

/

 _(AN: Still looking for omake ideas for this universe.)_


	13. Omake 12 - Sarada tackles the problem

**Sarada goes back in time instead.**

/

In the destroyed Uchiha residence, Sarada was weeping over the body of Sakura.

 _Why...?! Why would she do something like that for me?! I wasn't even..._ she thought.

As she was lost in her thoughts, she heard the door open. She looked up to see who it was. It was her father, Uchiha Sasuke. He looked slightly tired.

"Sarada! I've been looking all over for you. Come with me," he said.

Sarada's eyes narrowed in anger.

"What?! Come with you? Can't you see? Mama is dead... She's lying right here... Obviously you didn't love her... Did you even care about her at all?" she said through her tears.

"Hn. Maybe I did... But we don't have time for that. This can all be changed. Come."

Sarada continued to stare at the deceased Sakura for some time until Sasuke physically dragged her out. She looked at him exasperatedly before following him to Water Country.

/

They arrived in the forested glade. The runes were glowing.

"What is this?" Sarada asked.

"It's preparations for a time travel jutsu... I was going to use Himawari for this, but I couldn't find her. You need to go back in time and stop this situation from happening," Sasuke explained.

Sarada's eyes widened.

"Time travel? I didn't know that was even possible... How far am I going to go back? What should I do...?"

"You're going to go back at least 20 years. Probably more. You will save Konoha by ensuring that Uzumaki Boruto never exists... During the time that I was looking for you, I figured out a way to stabilize the jutsu. You should be able to remain in that time no matter what happens... But it's all useless if you don't eliminate Boruto."

"I'll gladly eliminate Boruto... I hate him... But how should I accomplish that?"

"Hn. The best way would be to ensure that Naruto, or Hokage-sama as you would call him, never marries Hinata-sama."

"Who else would he be involved with besides her...? Their romance was talked about all the time in the Leaf..."

"Hn... The ideal choice would be his kunoichi teammate..." Sarada's eyes narrowed. "Haruno Sakura."

Sarada glared at her father in fury.

"Papa... What the hell is wrong with you?! Your wife is DEAD, and the first thing you do is send your daughter back in time to make it so that she marries someone else...? Are you even human?"

"Hn. I assure you, it's the best for everyone. Anyway, I would strongly recommend that you pursue that option. It is my strong desire that you do not take a creative approach to this problem. If you do, you will bring shame to the Uchiha."

"Whatever the hell that means... Just send me back in time already, Papa. I can't even look at you right now."

Sasuke started flashing through hand signs.

/

When Sarada awoke, she was standing in a much smaller, unfamiliar version of Konoha. She decided to wander around and get her bearings. She heard someone yelling from a high altitude.

"They finally put that old hag's face on the mountain!" the voice called.

She headed over to where the voice came from. When she arrived, she found young versions of Naruto and Sakura talking. They seemed to be getting reacquainted after a long time.

Sarada had an atomic blush on her face upon seeing the young Naruto. She had always had something of a crush on her Hokage.

 _That's... Nanadaime-sama...? He's really... Wow... Boruto was a pale imitation..._ she thought.

She decided to follow them to see if she could talk to Naruto alone, thinking it the best way to figure out what to do next. Naruto and Sakura headed off to a training field where they remained for some time. When they had finished, Sakura headed off in a different direction from Naruto. Sarada saw her opportunity and approached the blonde, smiling with a light blush on her face. He turned to look at her.

"Hi! I'm Sarada..." she said shyly.

Naruto grinned at her.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage! It's nice to meet you. You must not be a shinobi here... You would have been in my class, and I've never seen you before..." he replied.

"Yeah, I just came here from Mist Country..."

"That's so cool! Want to go get ramen with me?"

"Of course, Naruto-kun!"

Naruto raced off to the ramen stand with Sarada in tow. The two ate together with big smiles on their faces. They got along magnificently. Naruto thought she was just like Sakura except she was nicer to him and didn't seem to even know who Sasuke was. This was something amazing to him. Sarada was incredibly charmed by how fun he was to be around. He was nothing like the friendly, but quite stoic Hokage that she remembered. When they finished, they promised to do this again soon.

/

Sarada was spending most of her time trying to learn more about this time period. When she had the chance, she ate lunch with Naruto. Apparently, her father had abandoned the village. Sarada thought that her opinion of her father couldn't have gotten any worse, but she was mistaken.

Naruto was trying to get him home because he made a promise to Sakura that he would do so. Sarada asked him why, and he couldn't really explain other than to say that Sasuke was very important to him too. The pair were getting pretty close. Naruto started calling her Sarada-chan. One time they were eating lunch together and a familiar pinkette showed up.

"Hey, Naruto... Who's this?" Sakura asked with a slight hint of jealousy.

"Oh, hey Sakura-chan! This is Sarada-chan," Naruto said. Sakura's eye twitched. "She's great."

Sarada smiled awkwardly at Sakura.

"Sarada? No last name...?" Sakura asked.

Sarada sighed, dreading the time that this would come up.

"It's... Uchiha," she answered.

"Uchiha?!" both Naruto and Sakura exclaimed in surprise.

"Are you kidding me? How can you be an Uchiha? I thought they were all killed," Sakura said.

"Well, I don't really know how I got the name... I'm an orphan from Mist Country," Sarada explained sheepishly.

"Wow... What are the odds? It's too bad Teme left... He would probably love to meet another Uchiha besides his brother..." Naruto remarked.

"Anyways, Naruto... I need to talk to you about something. Can you come find me after you're done here?" Sakura asked.

"Sure, Sakura-chan! Once I'm done with Sarada-chan, I'll meet up with you." Naruto replied.

Sakura's eye twitched again. She looked at him meaningfully.

"OK... I'll be at the Hokage's office... Don't keep me waiting too long."

Sakura walked off. Naruto and Sarada resumed eating.

 _Could this be a problem...? I mean, if Naruto-kun falls in love with me instead, that would still destroy Boruto... But my mother was always so unhappy..._ Sarada thought.

She looked down at her food with a troubled expression.

"What's wrong, Sarada-chan?" Naruto asked.

Sarada looked up to regard Naruto.

"Nothing really, Naruto-kun... What do you think of Sakura-san?" she asked.

"Oh... She's so great... I've always liked her. I'm sure that when I bring Sasuke-teme back, she'll start to like me too."

Sarada smiled awkwardly at him.

"I'm sure she will... Anyone would like you, Naruto-kun."

Naruto blushed slightly.

"Thanks, Sarada-chan... You're so nice to me..."

Sarada blushed much more deeply than Naruto did. She gazed at her ramen intently.

/

The days went by like this for some time. Sarada and Sakura developed something of a rivalry over being Naruto's best female friend. It wasn't an unfriendly rivalry, but Naruto was completely oblivious to it in any case.

Eventually, Naruto left to do his Sage training. Sarada had been hearing a lot of talk in the village about the Akatsuki. From what she remembered hearing about the history of Konoha, the Akatsuki leader would arrive and destroy much of the village. Then Naruto would show up and defeat him. The Akatsuki leader would then change his ways and revive those that he had killed with the last of his power. Knowing this, Sarada wasn't very fearful when it became clear that these events were coming to pass.

Sarada mostly stayed out of the way. It was still quite unsettling watching people fall to the six Pain bodies. After a while, Sakura cried out for Naruto and he showed up. There was a long battle between Naruto and the Pain bodies. Naruto started to falter and was pinned to the ground by the Deva Path's chakra rods. Sarada noticed that Hinata looked like she was about to intervene.

 _Hinata-sama... This has to be significant... I need to stop this from happening,_ Sarada thought.

When Hinata started to move towards the pinned Naruto, Sarada intercepted her and deftly knocked her out with a blow to the back of the neck. Other shinobi in the vicinity complimented her on her quick thinking. She picked up Hinata and delivered her to her bodyguard, Hyuga Ko. He bowed deeply and thanked her.

However, Naruto was still pinned. When Sarada turned to go back to where the battle was occurring, she saw Sakura trying to break the chakra rods that were pinning Naruto down as he watched her with wide eyes.

"Naruto... You can't lose like this! You're my hero..." Sakura said emotionally. She punched another one of the rods, breaking it. "I screamed your name and you arrived... So you can't be defeated, Naruto. What would I do without you...? You're my most precious person... That's why you have to win! Because I..."

"Shinra Tensei," intoned the Deva Path.

Sakura flew into a wall. She grimaced in pain and started trying to heal herself. Pain walked toward her calmly. Naruto was starting to lose it. He spoke to the Kyuubi inside his mindscape.

 _"Fox... You've got to help me. I'll never ask you for anything ever again... Please, you've got to give me your chakra so I can save Sakura-chan..."_ _Naruto begged._

 _The Kyuubi laughed. Naruto was on his knees._

 _"Please... I'll do anything!" the blonde continued._

 ** _"Hahaha... You were so proud of your hard-earned Sage techniques... Showing up on the battlefield like a great warrior... Now look at you! You're begging like a dog,"_** _the Kyuubi remarked._

 _"I don't care... None of that stuff matters if I lose Sakura-chan! You have to help me, damn it... What's it going to take?!"_

 _The great fox grinned, showing all his teeth._

 ** _"Hmph... Your vixen doesn't deserve to suffer on account of your weakness... I'll help you... This time."_**

Far away from Konoha, the fuinjutsu monitor on Yamato's hand turned from a zero to a six.

 _ **"That should be sufficient,"**_ _the fox proclaimed._

The Kyuubi-cloaked Naruto broke free from the chakra rods. Pain stopped to face him. Naruto created three clones with Rasengans and flanked Pain, destroying him. In his mind, the Kyuubi chuckled before withdrawing the red chakra.

Naruto rushed off to check on Sakura. She had finished healing herself and slowly stood up and looked at Naruto.

"Sakura-chan! Are you alright?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, I'm fine... You were amazing, Naruto...!" Sakura replied. She jumped on Naruto and embraced him. "Thank you..."

"You were great too, Sakura-chan..."

Sarada watched with a smile.

/

The village slowly rebuilt and recovered itself. Talk of a war was going around. Since Sarada knew when it was going to start and end, she decided not to participate. There was no way to know what would happen to her or how her presence would affect the course of events. She departed Konoha quietly, planning to return when she awoke from the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

The war played out mostly as normal. Naruto was quite surprised when he learned that his father was the Yondaime. As Sakura was healing him, Minato approached the two of them.

"So... is this your girlfriend, Naruto?" he asked.

"Um... Yeah, I guess," Naruto replied.

Sakura raised a clenched fist.

"I mean, it's not official or anything..." Naruto continued.

The pinkette's fingers went limp.

"She's just the most important person to me... And I know she feels the same way about me, too."

"Oh, Naruto..." Sakura said softly. She blushed, putting the hand she had raised over her heart.

"Heh... Take care of my son," Minato stated.

"I will..."

/

Later, Sarada had fallen into the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Team 7 returned from defeating Ootsutsuki Kaguya. Sasuke was facing the other three members outside the Valley of the End.

"You don't have to do this, Teme... At least release the tailed beasts," Naruto stated.

"As of now, you're the jinchuuriki of all the beasts... I'm going to destroy every bit of the chakra inside of you. It's inevitable. You're dead, Naruto," Sasuke replied.

"No way in hell I'm letting you do that..."

Sakura's face twisted into anger. She looked at Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun... I don't know why no one was ever able to help you... Naruto would have done anything to save you. But you're still standing against us. Why?! We could all be happy... Why do you keep hurting everyone?!" she shouted in frustration.

"Hn. You've grown up, Sakura. As a reward, I'll let you watch me defeat Naruto... Just don't interfere, or I'll have to kill you... Let's go, Naruto!" Sasuke shouted.

He leapt away, heading towards the Valley of the End. Naruto and Sakura followed him. Kakashi stood around and did nothing helpful.

/

Sarada felt herself awakening from the Infinite Tsukuyomi. She returned to Konoha, seeing that the war had been won. She learned that Naruto was in the hospital. She decided to wait a few days for things to calm down before approaching him.

She had agreed to meet Naruto at the ramen stand. She congratulated him on his heroism in the war. Naruto suggested that she should come visit Sasuke with him since he'd probably love to meet her. Sarada said that before that, she'd like to speak to Naruto somewhere privately. Naruto agreed. When they were done eating, they went to a little-used training field. Naruto looked at Sarada with interest.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about, Sarada-chan?" he asked.

"Well... I need to tell you something important," she replied.

"OK, I'm listening."

"I'm not really from Mist Country."

"Where are you from, then?"

"I'm from... the future."

Naruto's eyes widened.

"Really...?"

"Yes... I was sent back to avert a catastrophe. Your son ended up taking the Kyuubi from you and destroying Konoha... I was sent back to ensure that he would never be born."

Naruto's eyes widened even more.

"What...? That isn't possible... There's no way Sakura-chan and I would raise a kid like that..."

"Well... You didn't marry Sakura. You married Hyuga Hinata..."

Naruto's features twisted in confusion.

"I did...? Why?"

"I don't know... I don't know the details... What I do know is that Sakura married my father..."

Naruto stared at her in horror.

"Your father... Oh no... Uchiha... You mean... That can't be! I would never have let that happen..."

"Well, you did... Anyway, my mission was to make sure you didn't marry Hinata, preferably by protecting your relationship with Haruno Sakura... Who was my adoptive mother, not my birth mother, by the way..."

"Yeah... I feel like the two of us are really close, now. I haven't asked her how she feels about Teme, but I feel hopeful..."

Sarada smiled at Naruto sadly.

"That's great, Naruto-kun... I'm so happy for you."

She looked down and away from Naruto. He looked at her with concern.

"What's wrong, Sarada-chan?"

"Well... I don't know what I'm going to do now. I don't really know anyone here... I feel all alone."

"Don't worry, Sarada-chan... I'll never abandon you. Let's go meet Sakura-chan together."

Naruto grinned at her and held out his hand. They started walking together to the Hokage office. Sarada turned to him with a warm smile.

"Oh, Naruto-kun... You make it so easy for a girl to fall in love with you," Naruto blushed. "Have you ever heard of something called the CRA?"

"No... Tell me about it."

In the Pure Land, the original Sasuke facepalmed.


	14. Omake 13 - CRA

**Naruto makes good use of the CRA. Continued from Omake #12.**

/

Sarada and Naruto arrived at the Hokage Tower holding hands. Sakura was waiting outside. When she turned to look at the pair, a strange expression appeared on her face.

"Hey, Sakura-chan! How are you?" greeted Naruto.

"I'm fine, Naruto... What are you two doing?" Sakura asked.

"We came to see you," Sarada replied.

"Oh? I knew this would happen..."

"What do you mean, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"The two of you... I spent so much time obsessing over Sasuke-kun... I knew I would be too late," The pinkette smiled sadly at Naruto. "I'm happy for you guys."

"It's not like that, Sakura-chan! Well, it is, but Sarada-chan told me something amazing."

"What's that?"

"Apparently, since I'm the last Uzumaki, I can marry both of you."

Sakura looked at Naruto threateningly.

"You can't be serious, Naruto... Sarada, you can't possibly have agreed to this... Tell me you didn't."

Sarada looked at her curiously.

"Agree? It was my idea. I have my reasons for being OK with it," Sarada said, smiling at Sakura.

Sakura stared blankly at her.

"Well, I'm not... Naruto, you should just pick the one you love more, seriously. I'll understand if it isn't me... I could have treated you better..."

Naruto gave Sakura a warm smile.

"I can't, Sakura-chan... I know this is the right choice. I could never send you away... You're my Sakura-chan," He turned his head to look at Sarada. "And you're my Sarada-chan."

Sarada blushed. Sakura put her face in her hands.

"I can't believe I'm actually considering this..."

/

Sakura eventually gave in. A year had passed since then and the trio were getting married. It was a huge event: the wedding of the future Hokage. The Five Kage were in attendance, and Kakashi was acting as the priest. On the altar, the two brides were standing on one side and Naruto on the other. Naruto was wearing an orange kimono, Sakura a pink dress, and Sarada a red one. They read the vows with great emotion. Kakashi cleared his throat.

"You may kiss the bride... Whichever one you want to kiss first. It's up to you," he said.

Naruto looked between the two of them contemplatively. Then Sarada quickly stepped forward and kissed Naruto passionately. An enraged Sakura glared at her.

"Sarada! What are you doing...? You said you were willing to consider me the first wife, since I raised you in the other timeline... What the hell?!" she said.

Sarada pulled back from Naruto and looked at Sakura apologetically.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself..." Sarada replied.

Sakura looked down in a huff. When she looked up to meet Naruto's eyes, her breath caught in her throat. He was gazing at her lovingly.

When Naruto stepped forward and kissed Sakura, she had forgotten all about what Sarada did.

/

In the Pure Land, Itachi had found Sasuke. He was pretty confused about what Sasuke was doing there, since he was sure his brother was still alive. And this Sasuke seemed to be in a strange state. His Sharingan was blazing and he was pacing back and forth. Itachi observed him from a distance.

"Dobe... How dare you...?" Sasuke muttered.

/

The new brides and groom were on their honeymoon. They were at a fancy hotel in Rice Country. The two women walked ahead of Naruto, eager to see the suite that had been reserved for them. Sarada opened the door for Sakura.

When Sakura walked in, her eyes widened.

"Wow... This place is huge... Hurry up, Naruto!" she called.

Sarada followed her inside. Naruto increased his pace to catch up to them.

"Yeah, it's amazing... Come on in, Naruto-kun!" Sarada said happily.

Naruto blushed and entered.

/

After some time, Itachi had decided to approach Sasuke. Sasuke told him that he was from another timeline and explained what he had done to change the past. Then, in a rage, he described the events he was currently observing.

"God damn it... That fucking Dobe..." Sasuke snarled.

Itachi took a step away from him.

"Otouto, calm down..." he said soothingly.

Sasuke's eyes entered their Mangekyo state inadvertently.

"Naruto... You'd better hope you live a long, LONG time, because when you get here, I'm going to kill you... I'll tell the Sasuke from your timeline about what you have done... We'll both come for you and destroy you in an instant!"

His eyes started to spin. Itachi sweatdropped.

"NARUTOOOOOOOOO!" screamed the last Uchiha.


End file.
